It's Just a Game
by Kiaooftheblade
Summary: Twelve ponies find themselves taken from their homes and forced to play a twisted game of survival. Rated M for graphic depictions of violence, slight gore, and strong language.
1. Rude Awakening

This my first story, so any helpful criticism is appreciated. Anyway, I don't own My Little Pony or any related characters in any way, shape, or form.

* * *

Chapter 1 Rude Awakening

Twilight slowly opened her eyes, confused by the sudden disappearance of her bed. She rose to her feet and took a look around.

"Where in Equestira am I?" she muttered.

Twilight stood in a very dimly lit, almost pitch black room, unable to see more than about a foot in any direction. The ground that she had woken up on was a cold, rusty metallic floor.

"This definitely isn't my bedroom."

"Is somepony there?" called out a voice from the darkness.

"Who's there?" Twilight called back, turning towards the source of the voice.

"I asked y'all first!" the voice responded.

"Wait a minute, that voice sounds familiar," Twilight said to herself as she began moving toward the mysterious voice. "I'm Twilight Sparkle," she called out.

A vague pony like shadow came in to view as she walked forward.

"Twilight?" the shadowy pony said, sounding surprised.

It began to move toward her, details coming into focus. An orange earth pony stood in front of her. The earth pony had a blond mane and tail, both tied into pony tails and wore a cowboy hat upon her head, but the most important feature being the cutie mark on her flank, three apples.

"Applejack!" Twilight cried rushing to her friend, "What are you doing here? And where is here?"

"Wish I knew Twilight," Applejack responded, "I just woke up here a couple of minutes ago. I don't even know how I got here."

"Is anypony else here?" Twilight asked, looking around.

"Dunno. Till you showed up, I thought I was alone here."

Twilight stood, silently contemplating this new information.

"Well, better get movin'," Applejack said turning to her left.

"Wait! Where are you going?" the purple unicorn asked.

"Gonna take a look around," Applejack said over her shoulder, "See if I can a way out or somethin'."

"That's a good idea," Twilight said, "But I think we should stick together, just in case somepony else is here."

Applejack nodded in agreement and began to move, Twilight following close behind. They walked for what felt like hours around the strange room. They found that they were being held a large square shaped room, all the walls made of the same rusty metal as the floor. The walls were perfectly smooth, no doors or windows to be found.

The two ponies sat down in what they assumed was the center of the room, exhausted from exploring their prison.

"No exits. This is just great," Twilight sighed, "We're trapped in here."

Applejack sat silently next to her friend, staring into the darkness in front of her.

"Um… Excuse me… Are you Twilight Sparkle and Applejack?" said a timid voice from behind the pair.

The ponies turned and saw a yellow pegasus with a pink mane and tail standing behind them. Three butterflies adorned her flank.

"Fluttershy? When did you get here?" Twilight said, standing.

"Um… Just now, I guess," Fluttershy responded, "Where are we?"

"That's a real popular question right now," Applejack said, "Me and Twilight was just tryin' to figure that out."

Fluttershy stepped forward and sat down next to the earth pony.

"What did you find out?" she asked, quickly adding, "If you don't mind me asking."

"Well, it would appear that we are trapped in a large metal box with absolutely no entrances or exits anywhere," Twilight said, sitting back down.

"Oh… What does that mean for us?" the timid pegasus looked as if she was about to start crying.

"Don't you worry none, Fluttershy," Applejack said placing a hoof on her shoulder, "We'll figure somethin' out."

Twilight nodded in agreement. "If we put our heads together, we'll be able to figure out a solution in no time!"

Fluttershy smiled, sniffing and wiping away the tears that began to form in the corners of eyes. "Alright," she said, "If you say so."

Several minutes passed as the three ponies sat, silently trying to come up with ways to escape their apparently perfect prison, when a sudden high-pitched scream broke the silence.

"What was that?" Fluttershy said, looking around in a panic.

"Sounds like someponies in trouble!" Applejack said, leaping to her feet, "Come on! We have to help them!"

The three ponies rushed towards the source of the scream. Near one the walls they found it, a white unicorn with a purple mane and tail and three diamonds for a cutie mark.

"Somepony help me!" she screamed, her eyes shut tight, prancing around on the tips of her hooves.

"Rarity, calm down!" Twilight said.

"Oh, Twilight! Thank Celestia you're here!" Rarity said at the sight of her friend, "You have to help me!"

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked.

"I just woke up on the floor! And it's not even my floor!" Rarity cried, "Plus, it's positively filthy! My beautiful coat has been sullied!"

"That's all? Jeez, I shoulda' guessed it was something small like that," Applejack muttered.

"Excuse me Applejack, but I hardly think being kidnapped is a small matter," Rarity retorted matter-of-factly.

"Did you see who kidnapped you Rarity?" Twilight asked.

"No, the last thing I remember before waking up here was going to sleep in my bed. Whoever did this must have taken me while I was still asleep," Rarity responded.

"Wait a minute. Somethin' don't make sense here," Applejack said, "Rarity, yer a light sleeper right?"

"Yes, I am. Why do you ask?"

"If somepony had come into your room and taken you out of yer bed, you woulda' woken up right?"

"Well, yes I suppose I would have."

"If that's the case, then how could somepony of kidnapped Rarity without her waking up till she got here? And the rest of us fer that matter."

"Um… I think I know," Fluttershy said.

"Well, don't leave us hanging, what do think happened?" Applejack said.

"Um… this is just a thought, but what if a unicorn teleported us here?" the timid pegasus said.

"Fluttershy you're a genius!" Twilight exclaimed, "That has to be what happened! Us being teleported here would explain why none of us were woken up by our kidnapper."

"Really? I was right? Oh, that makes me so happy I could just, just…" Fluttershy took in a deep breath, as if preparing a loud yell, then let out a quiet, "Yay! Oh, I'm sorry for being so loud," she quickly apologized.

"No need to apologize Fluttershy," Twilight said, "You should cheer as loud as you want. You did just find us a way out of here after all."

"Wait, she did?" Applejack asked, confused.

"Yes. We were teleported here, so I'll just teleport us back home," Twilight said, smiling, "I don't know why I didn't think to do that before. Now, everypony gather close together."

The four ponies moved close together as Twilights horn began to emit a soft glow.

"Alright, close your eyes everypony! This is gonna be bright," Twilight said, closing her own eyes as the others followed suit.

The glow of the purple unicorns horn intensified until it emitted a blinding flash of light that enveloped the four ponies.

"Okay," Twilight said opening her eyes, "We're back ho… We haven't moved at all…"

The others open their eyes and saw that they indeed were still trapped in the metal cube.

"This doesn't make sense," Twilight said, exasperated, "There's no way my teleportation spell could have failed."

"What if there's somethin' blockin' yer magic in here?" Applejack asked.

"Impossible," Twilight said shaking her head, "If there was something like that in here, I'm sure we would have seen it when we were looking around before, or at least felt it."

"She's right," Rarity said, "Unicorns can tell if there's something that disrupts magic nearby, and I haven't felt anything either."

"Then how come yer spell didn't work?" Applejack demanded, turning towards the purple unicorn.

"I don't know!" Twilight yelled, "It should have worked, but for some reason it didn't! I don't know why!"

"Please stop yelling," Fluttershy said, to quietly for the others hear.

"You probably just did it wrong," Applejack said.

"No I didn't!" Twilight responded.

"Then why didn't it work?"

"I already told you, I don't know!"

The two ponies stood about a foot apart, glaring daggers at each other.

"Please stop," Fluttershy just as quietly as before.

"Stop it you two!" Rarity said rather forcefully, drawing the attention of the others, "Arguing about this isn't going to help us find a way out of here."

"Rarity's right, Twilight," Applejack said, "I'm sorry I yelled at ya."

"It's okay Applejack," Twilight responded, "We're all feeling a little frustrated right now."

"Um, I don't want to be a bother, but… um…" Fluttershy mumbled.

"What is it Fluttershy?" Rarity asked.

"What's going to happen to us now?" the yellow pegasus asked.

The other three stood silent, unsure of how to answer. After a few silent minutes, Twilight spoke up, giving a voice to the thought all four of them had.

"We're going to be trapped here, forever."

* * *

Like I said, this is my first story and any helpful criticism is appreciated. Thanks for reading!


	2. All Together Now

Sorry if things are kinda slow for the first few chapters, things will pick up soon, I promise. Anyway, I don't own My Little Pony or any related characters in any way, shape, or form. I do however own the character Sweetmint.

* * *

Chapter 2 All Together Now

Absolute silence filled the room. The four friends stood together, digesting the fact that they were now trapped.

With no doors or windows anywhere, and teleportation apparently blocked, the four ponies had no way to escape the giant metal cube they had woken up in.

A soft sob broke the quiet. Fluttershy's eyes filled with tears, which fell to the floor, making soft drips as they did.

"Oh no, don't cry Fluttershy," Rarity said, hugging the yellow pegasus, "Everything will be okay. We'll get out of this."

"But we're trapped forever!" Fluttershy sobbed.

"Wait, we're trapped?" asked a new voice.

The four ponies turned and saw a light blue pegasus standing behind them, her rainbow mane standing out in sharp contrast to the darkness surrounding them.

"Rainbow Dash?" they all exclaimed at the sight of their friend.

"Did you just get here too?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah," Dash responded, "I just woke up here a moment ago."

"How did you find us?"

"I heard some voices and went to see who was there. Now, what's this about being trapped?"

The other four looked at each other, Fluttershy wiping away the tears in her eyes, before Twilight said, "Well, we've taken a look around this place and couldn't find any doors or windows, and for some reason, I can't teleport us out of here."

"So, what you're saying is, there's no way out of this… place?" Dash said.

"Pretty much, yeah," Applejack responded.

"Do you know where we are?" the rainbow pegasus asked.

"We haven't been able to figure that out either," Twilight said, looking at the ground.

Dash stood there, silently looking around for a moment. "Dammit," she said, "Who ever brought us here definitely wants us to stay then."

"But why do they want us here?" Rarity asked, looking at the others.

"That's a good question," Twilight said, "But I don't think we'll be able to answer that one either. Not yet at least."

"What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well, somepony brought us all here, right?"

The others nodded.

"Whoever it is will probably be binging other ponies here as well, and when they've brought everypony they want here, they will most likely reveal themselves, and when they do, we'll be able to find out what's going here."

"That makes sense Twilight," Applejack said with a small smile, "I guess that's why yer the smart one."

"Thanks," she responded, blushing slightly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, Twilights an egghead. We know that already," Dash said, "But it's not gonna help us get out of here."

"Must you always be so rude?" Rarity asked, shooting a small glare at the pegasus.

"Sorry, but I just don't want to be here any longer than I have to be."

Rarity opened her mouth to say something else, but was cut off by what sounded like a chainsaw.

"Eep!" Fluttershy shrieked at the noise, "What's that?"

"Hang on a second… That sounds familiar," Dash said, turning towards the noise.

"It does?" Applejack asked, confused, "'Cause I'm pretty sure I've never heard anything like that."

"Just trust me," Rainbow Dash looked back at the others, "Come on. We should go check, just to make sure."

The other four looked at the pegasus for a moment before nodding, and the five of them began walking towards the noise. It didn't take long for them to reach the source, a pink earth pony with three balloons on her flank, curled up on the ground, snoring loudly, oblivious to what was going on around her.

"Just like I thought," Dash said, looking down at the sleeping pony, "It's Pinkie Pie."

"How is she still asleep?" Rarity said, flabbergasted by the earth pony.

"Pinkie's a pretty heavy sleeper. Sometimes I have to throw her out of bed and then pour cold water on her head to wake her up," Dash said, smiling.

"Wait, why do you know that?" Applejack asked, very confused by Dash's statement.

"Huh, uh, well I…" Dash stammered, cheeks turning bright red as she did.

"Rainbow Dash, are you keeping secrets from us?" Twilight asked.

"What? No! It's just that, uh… you see…"

Before she could finish, Pinkie shifted and mumbled, "No. Your burning the pancakes," then went back to snoring.

"Oh great," Dash said, placing a hoof against her forehead, "She having the restaurant dream again."

"Okay, now I'm even more confused!" Applejack said.

"Yes, just what are you talking about Rainbow Dash?" Rarity asked.

"It's, uh… Um… Ugh, how can I explain this…" Dash mumbled to herself.

As if to save her friend from any further embarrassment, Pinkie Pie yawned and sleepily stood up.

"Good morning everypony," she mumbled, before suddenly becoming alert, "Wait a minute! What are you all doing in my room?"

"Uh, Pinkie, we're not in your room," Twilight said.

"Of course you are!" Pinkie said, looking at the others, "I went to sleep in my room, so I'm still in my room now that I've woken up."

"Just take a look around Pinkie."

"Ok," the pink pony said, turning to look at her surroundings, "But I don't see what good looking at my room is going to… Hey! This isn't my room!"

"About time she notices," Rarity said under her breath.

"Just what's going on here?" Pinkie asked, looking at Twilight, "Where are we?"

"Unfortunately, we have no idea about anything going on here Pinkie," the purple unicorn responded.

"I guess there's no way out of here either then?"

"What… How do you know that?" Twilight said, surprised.

"Well, you're all here, and if there was a way out, you'd all be gone, right?"

"Wow… That's surprisingly sound logic Pinkie. I'm impressed."

"Thank you," Pinkie smiled, "Wait, what's logic?"

* * *

With no outside lights or windows, it was impossible for the six friends to tell exactly how much time passed within their prison. The sudden appearances of more ponies did little to help.

Shortly after Pinkie showed up, a cream colored earth pony known as Bon Bon arrived, followed by a mint green unicorn, Lyra, a few seconds later. The two new arrivals were just as confused as to what was happening as the others.

A few minutes – or maybe it was a few hours. Nopony could really tell – the next pony showed up. This time it was a grey pegasus. She was instantly recognized as Derpy Hooves by her distinctive eyes, which looked in different directions from each other.

Derpy was followed by a plum colored earth pony with a cutie mark depicting a bunch of grapes and a strawberry. Berry Punch, just like the others, hadn't seen her kidnapper.

The next arrival proved to be eventful. A turquoise unicorn came walking out of the darkness towards the group of ten.

"Oh no, not her!" Twilight muttered to herself at the sight of the new pony.

"Will somepony please tell the Great and Powerful Trixie where she is and why she was brought here?" Trixie demanded.

When none of the ponies answered, Trixie moved closer to the group, saying, "Well? Isn't anypony going to answer Trixie?"

"We're not answering because we don't know what's going on here," Twilight said, stepping forward.

"Twilight Sparkle," the turquoise unicorn spat the name out, as if it had a sour taste, "You know, I still haven't forgiven you for the way you humiliated me."

"What a coincidence," Twilight replied, "I still haven't forgiven you for being a complete and total bitch."

Everypony gasped at Twilights words, Trixie's louder then the others.

"How dare you speak to the Great and Powerful Trixie like that you…you…" Trixie stammered, obviously flustered.

"Yeah, yeah," Twilight interrupted, "Whatever. You don't like me, and I don't like you. But if we want to get out of here alive, we need to put aside our differences and work together."

Trixie glared at Twilight before saying, "Fine. For the sake of survival, Trixie will work together with you. But don't think this means we're friends now."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

It was not much longer after Trixies arrival that a new pony made her presence known. This one was a bright green pegasus with dark blue mane and tail with a circular peppermint candy for cutie mark. Nopony recognized her, except for Pinkie Pie, which wasn't too surprising, considering her seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of all of Ponyvilles residents.

Pinkie introduced her to others. The green pegasus was named Sweetmint and had only been living in Ponyville for a few months now.

"I haven't really had much time to get to know everypony in town yet," Sweetmint explained, "My work keeps me very busy."

Apparently, Sweetmint was working on opening a candy shop in town, and the process of building the shop was incredibly complicated.

Time sped by as the others began asking Sweetmint several questions.

Suddenly, the room filled with a bright light that expelled all the darkness around them. With proper lighting, all the details of the room were crystal clear. The room was a perfect square, roughly thirty feet long. The walls extended up thirty feet where they met a flat, metal ceiling. All of the surfaces were made of the same rusty metal. As had been discovered earlier, the walls were perfectly smooth, save for the lines of bolts that held the various patches of metal that made up the wall together.

"What's going on?" Bon Bon cried as they all looked around.

"Hello everypony!" a new voice echoed throughout the room, apparently coming form everywhere at once.

"Who's there?" Rainbow Dash called out.

"Now that everypony's finally here," the voice continued as if Dash hadn't spoken, "It's time for us to begin our little game!"

* * *

Thanks for reading, and be sure to leave a nice review!


	3. Don't Fear the Reaper

Thanks for all the reviews. You guys are whats making me continue to write this story. Anyway, I don't own My Little Pony or it's related characters in any way shape or form. I do however own the characters of Sweetmint and Grey Reaper.

* * *

Chapter 3 Don't Fear the Reaper

A soft, grey light appeared in the air above the twelve ponies, as if a light bulb had suddenly been turned on. It began to intensify, growing so bright that the group had to cover their eyes. Just when nopony thought the light could possibly grow brighter, FLASH!, the light extinguished itself with a blinding flash.

Floating in the air where the light had just been was a grey alicorn with a long, flowing mane and tail that was jet black. She was small and looked to be quite young, not much older then Applejack's younger sister Applebloom. With how she was positioned in the air, none of the ponies on the ground could see her cutie mark.

The alicorn foal stared at the group on the ground, her face devoid of any emotion.

"Now then," she said after what felt like an eternity, her voice sweet and childlike, "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Grey Reaper, and I'm going to play an absolutely wonderful game with you all."

"Oooh, what kind of game?" Pinkie asked, jumping up and down excitedly, "Is it Hide and Go Seek? Ooh, wait, is it Musical Chairs? No, wait, I know! It's Pin the Tail on the Pony!"

The corners of Grey Reapers mouth curled into a small smile and she said, "No Pinkie, it's a very… different kind of game, one that none of you have ever played before."

"Oh…" Pinkie's smile drooped at her words, "Well, I guess playing a new game could be fun."

"Wait just a minute!" Twilight stepped forward, "How did you know Pinkie's name?"

Grey's smile grew slightly larger as she said, "I should have guessed you'd notice something like that Twilight. That's right, I know your name too. In fact, I know all of names. I am the one who brought you all here after all."

Twelve sets of eyes stared up at the alicorn, unsure of how to respond.

"Now, I'm sure you're all also wondering where exactly you are right now."

Twelve heads nodded.

Grey smiled and said, "This is a little space I put together called the Preparation Room."

"And what exactly, may I ask, are y'all preparing here?" Applejack asked.

"Well now, I'd think it would be obvious, even to such a simple pony such as yourself Applejack," Grey said condescendingly.

"What did you just say?" Applejack seethed.

"Calm down, save that intensity for later," Grey smiled once more, "What's being prepared here is, of course, the twelve of you."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Lyra asked.

"As I said before, I brought you here to play a game," the young alicorn said, directing here gaze towards the mint green unicorn, "And before the game can begin, I must explain the rules and get you all ready to play."

Grey Reaper looked at each pony in turn before asking, "Are there any other questions?"

"Um… I have one, if that's okay," Fluttershy said timidly.

"Don't be afraid Fluttershy," Grey smiled at her, "Go ahead and ask your question."

"Well, um… You keep saying that we're going to play a game," the yellow pegasus kept her gaze directed towards the ground as she spoke, "But you haven't told us anything about what kind of game it is. So, um… I was just wondering, what kind of game is it?"

The foal was quiet as she digested the question.

"That's a very good question Fluttershy," she said after a moment, "A very good question indeed. I suppose there's no need to beat around the bush then. So, I'll go ahead and explain the rules of our little game."

Grey began to slowly float downward until she landed on the ground.

"In just a few minutes, you will be playing a game I like to call The Grey Reaper Survival Challenge, an absolutely amazing game in which you will be hunting down and killing one another."

The group of twelve ponies stared at her, eyes wide, mouths hung open, too shocked to speak.

Grey Reapers smiled grew bigger as she looked at their shocked expressions.

"Don't look so surprised," she said, smile growing as she did, "Everypony has a time where they want to kill somepony. This is an opportunity for you all to act upon those urges."

"That's… That's sick…" Twilight said, disgusted.

"Sick? Hardly. If anything, this game is a way for you all to live out your darkest fantasies, thereby removing them from your minds and keeping you from acting upon them in society," the young alicorns smile remained as she spoke, "It's a good thing."

"It's terrible!" Rainbow Dash screamed, "Forcing us to kill our friends? It's sick and twisted! I refuse to play!"

The others nodded, agreeing with Dash's statement.

"I see," Grey said flatly, "Well then, if you don't want to play, then you are free to drop out of the game."

"Fine, I drop out," Dash said, glaring at the foal in front of her.

Suddenly, a grey glow appeared around the blue pegasus and she began to float off the ground.

"Whoa, what's going on?" Dash cried out, "I thought you said I could lea-"

A sudden squeezing around her neck cut off Dash's words. Dash clawed at her throat, her breathing incredibly difficult.

"Stop! Please stop!" she croaked, her voice strained, "I'll play! I'll play!"

The squeezing lessened, allowing Dash to suck in some much needed air.

"What was that?" Grey Reaper asked sweetly.

"I said I'll play," Dash responded, voice still slightly strained.

"Wonderful."

Dash was placed back on the ground, at which point she began heavily coughing and grasping her neck.

"Does anypony else have an objection to the game?" Grey scanned the faces of the ponies in front of her.

All twelve of them glared at her, but kept silent.

"No? Good, I can get on with things then," Grey's smile returned, "In just a few minutes, you will be sent to the playing field. Once there, you are free to move about however you wish. I've taken the liberty of scattering several weapons around. Feel free to take and use any you may happen to come across."

The group of twelve remained silent, looking uncomfortably at each other.

"The game will end only when half of the participants have died. And don't think you can just hide somewhere and wait things out," her eyes narrowed as she looked at the group, "I will be watching all of you closely, and if I feel that you aren't actively participating, well… Lets just say I'll be forced to intervene."

Several of the ponies gulped.

"Now then, any questions?"

Sweetmint stepped forward. "Are you responsible for the death of my sister?" she asked, her voice weak and wavering.

"That's far to vague of a question, my dear, you'll have to be more specific."

Sweetmint swallowed and said in a more confident voice, "Did you force my sister Wintergreen to play this game?"

"Wintergreen…" the alicorn mulled over the name as if it was a particularly complicated riddle, before saying, "The name does sound familiar. Where did she live?"

"Fillydelphia."

"Aw, yes," Grey's eyes light up, as if the answer to the riddle suddenly came to her, "The group from Fillydelphia was quite a good one."

"Sweetmint, what are you talking about?' Twilight asked.

"About a year ago, when I was still living in Fillydelphia, my older sister and several other ponies went missing," the green pegasus looked at the ground, "We searched everywhere, but there was no trace of them anywhere. Then, about three or four days later, they all came back, and only few of them were alive. My sister was one of the dead. None of the survivors would tell us what had happened."

Twilight looked at Grey Reaper. "You've done this before?"

The alicorn nodded. "Oh yes. This year will be the fifth survival game I've hosted."

"Then it really was you that killed my sister?" Sweetmint said trough clenched teeth.

"No, your sister was killed by a earth pony named Pretty Penny."

Sweetmint's eyes went wide and the color drained from her face. "Pretty… Penny…" she stammered.

"Did I say something bad?" Grey said innocently.

"After the funerals… Pretty Penny…" Sweetmint spoke in whisper, "She came up to me and… And apologized…"

"Dear Celestia," Rarity said softly, covering her mouth.

"She apologized? For killing Wintergreen?" Grey Reaper seemed confused as she spoke. "I don't see why she would do that. Wintergreen hardly did anything. In fact, she was the first to die."

Sweetmint turned her gaze to the alicorn, shooting her an intense death glare, teeth bared in a fierce snarl. "YOU BITCH!" she screamed, lunging at the young pony.

Grey Reaper floated into the air, avoiding the lunging pegasus. "My, my, my. I didn't expect such ferocity from you," she said with a smile, "You may just do better then your sister."

"Don't talk about my sister!" Sweetmint yelled, flying upwards. She suddenly stopped, only raising a few inches off the ground. "What's going on?"

"Sorry, but I had to take some precautions against those annoying wings you pegasai have. I also made sure you unicorns couldn't teleport away."

Sweetmint returned to the ground, still glaring at Grey.

"Now then, I feel as though we've wasted enough time talking. If there are no other questions…"

"I have one more!" Twilight interrupted.

Grey Reaper closed her eyes tightly, fighting back the urge to strangle Twilight as she had almost done to Rainbow Dash. "What?" she snapped.

"Why are you doing this?"

"The same reason you read your books, or Pinkie makes up all those songs and dances, or Rarity creates dresses. It keeps me entertained."

"You're doing this because you're bored?" Bon Bon cried out, horrified.

"Yes, why is that hard to grasp?" the grey alicorn seem genuinely confused.

"You're a heartless monster!" Berry Punch said.

Grey's eyes narrowed as she looked at the group. "I see there's no way to make you think otherwise." Her voice was flat; completely losing it's childlike sweetness, and becoming more adult like. "Yes, I am what you call 'heartless'. No, I don't care about any of you. I could kill all of you right now without so much as batting an eye!" The young pony's voice filled with a sudden intensity that left the twelve ponies around her transfixed. "It would be incredibly easy, like stomping out a bug! But I won't, because making you do it is much more fun."

Nopony moved as she continued to stare at them. Then, just as suddenly as she had appeared earlier, her expression became childlike again.

"Now then," she said sweetly, and turned to the side revealing her cutie mark the group, a scythe similar to the one carried by the actual Grim Reaper, "It's time to begin! Good luck, my little ponies. And remember, I'll watching you all… Very intensely."

* * *

Thanks for reading, and be sure to leave a nice review!


	4. Let The Games Begin

Sorry this chapter took so long. Between finals and getting my wisdom teeth removed, I just couldn't find time sit down and write. But, now that that's all done, expect chapters to come out slightly faster. Anyway, I don't own My Little Pony or any related characters in anyway shape or form. I do, however, own the characters Sweetmint and Grey Reaper.

* * *

Chapter 4 Let The Games Begin

Twilight moved quietly through the thick brush, not wanting to attract attention. She looked around, and seeing nopony, decided to sit and rest. She looked up the sky, trying to gauge the time. It was difficult, since the sun seemed to be stuck in place. Twilight sighed and looked towards the ground. She felt like she'd been walking for hours, when in reality, only about twenty minutes had passed.

After she had finished speaking, Grey Reapers teleported the twelve ponies out of the Preparation Room. The place they ended up in, the Playing Field, was an incredibly large expanse of forests, plains, mountains, and even a desert. Everypony ended up somewhere different. The sky stretched above them, the sun hanging high in the middle of the blue expanse.

Upon arriving here, Grey Reapers voice projected throughout the Playing Field, so that everypony could hear her. "Welcome to the Playing Field! Now that you're here, the game truly begins! Have fun!"

"Fun," Twilight muttered as she stood up, "Anypony that actually has fun here should be committed."

She trudged forward, constantly scanning her surroundings for the others. Something suddenly caught her eye. A few feet in front of her, leaning against a rock, was what appeared to be some sort of wooden pole. It was about three feet long and had a slight curve to it. The bottom two feet was solid black and shiny. A small metal disk rested at the top, between the shiny black wood and the final foot of the object, which was wrapped in strips of white cloth.

"A katana," the unicorn said as she moved towards the weapon, "Grey Reaper did say we were free to take any weapons we found." She extended a hoof towards the sword, but quickly pulled it back. "What am I doing? I can't seriously be considering playing this game."

A sudden rustling pulled Twilight attention away from the blade in front of her. "Who's there?" she called out, looking around. When no answer came Twilight realized it had just been the wind blowing through the grass. She looked back at the sword. "I may not want to play, but having something to defend myself with wouldn't be a bad idea."

Twilight quickly fastened the katana across her back with the sword belt she found on the ground, the hilt extending past her right shoulder. "Dear Celestia," she said looking at the blade, "I'm really in this now. Guess I should keep moving then."

* * *

"UGH! This is SO unladylike!" Rarity loudly complained as she trudged down the mountain path where she had appeared, "Being forced to play this barbaric game and having to walk down such a filthy pathway. It's almost too much to take."

The white unicorn moved slowly down the winding path, taking care not to step on any rocks in her way. "Nothing but dirt! Dirt and rocks! And to top it all off, I'm sweating!"

As she continued, each step she made kicked up a small amount of dust that mixed with the sweat, covering her in a thin layer of filth, turning her beautiful white coat a dirty grey. Not even her precious mane was spared from the horrors of filth.

"I can't wait to get back home and leave all this behind me. As long as I don't run into anypony I'll be just fine. And I won't even have to use this." A small kitchen knife with six-inch long blade floated in front of her. The knife had been sitting on the ground a few feet from where she had arrived. Rarity was reluctant to take the knife, but, like Twilight, decided having something to defend herself with would be a good idea. It wasn't much of a weapon, she knew, but the blade was razor sharp and could easily pierce the soft skin of anypony that may attack her.

"Honestly, a lady like myself having to fight. Who does that child think I am, Applejack? If I never see that Grey Reaper again, it'll be to soon!"

"For the love of Celestia, don't you ever shut up?" yelled a nearby voice.

Rarity turned, looking for the pony that had just spoken. "Who said that?" she called out, "Who's there?"

As if to answer her, a wooden pole slammed into the side of her head. The white unicorn let out a scream of pain as she was knocked to the ground. She tentatively touched the spot where she had been struck, immediately pulling back with a yelp as it caused her more pain. Rarity slowly opened her eyes and looked at her hoof. The tip was stained red. With some effort, she began to rise, only to be stopped by something cold and metallic pressing against her neck. She looked up and saw that it was the tip of a spear. She looked up its length and saw a turquoise unicorn standing behind it, horn glowing to hold the spear in place.

"Not the one I wanted," Trixie said, glaring at the other unicorn, "But it'll do for now."

* * *

Rainbow Dash looked down at her hooves. "I can't believe I'm really doing this," she muttered.

Dash had ended up appearing in the middle of a field. Right next to her was a crossbow and a small pack of bolts. She immediately picked them up and flew into a nearby tree, where she now sat, staring at the weapon she had found.

"I'm the Element of Loyalty. There's no way I can kill my friends. If I just stay hidden…" Grey Reapers words echoed through her mind, "If I feel that you aren't actively participating, well… Let's just say I'll be forced to intervene." The pegasus placed a hoof on her neck, still able to feel the grip of the alicorn's magic, choking the life out of her.

"I can't just hide. I have to actually try and play." The idea sickened her and she felt as though she may vomit. "I'll wait here, and if I see anypony come by, I'll shoot at them," she said to herself, "That's what I'll do. That's all I'll do. You hear me?" she called out towards the sky, "That's all I'm going to do!"

The wind blew past, rustling the leaves around her in response.

* * *

"Oh Lyra, where are you?" Bon Bon mumbled, looking around her. The earth pony had, like everypony else, ended up nowhere near anypony. She immediately set off, searching for the mint green unicorn.

Bon Bon believed that if she teamed up with somepony else, she and her partner would both make it out alive. She thought about which pony she should try to find and decided that the only acceptable ally was her filly friend Lyra. That's not to say she didn't care about the others. Everypony else here was her friend. Well, Trixie wasn't anyponys friend, and until today, she hadn't even known Sweetmint existed. But still, she wanted everypony to be able to go back home alive, well, except maybe Trixie, but the rules of this "game" wouldn't allow that. If her and Lyra were to escape alive, then four others would be leaving with them. She thought about who she would like to see come back with them, but the idea of choosing who lived and who died left a bad taste in her mouth.

With nothing else to do, she continued searching for the unicorn she loved, unsure if she would even survive long enough to see her.

* * *

Lyra stood by a small pond. The water was as flat and still as glass, allowing the unicorn to see her reflection perfectly, as if she was looking into a mirror.

"Ugh. This whole thing sucks…" she muttered, dropping a small pebble into the center of the pond, sending ripples across it, distorting her image.

She reached a hoof over and touched her side. A dagger held within a sheath made of hardened leather hung there held in place by a thin belt.

"I wish I could have found a better weapon. I'm barely gonna be able to protect myself, let alone kill somepony with this." Another pebble dropped into the pond. "Maybe I can sneak up on somepony with a better weapon and take from them."

A mischievous smile spread across her face. "Yeah, that's what I'll do. I'll slip the dagger in between their ribs from behind and take whatever weapon they have from them. Then I'll be able to survive till the end."

Lyra had quickly accepted the situation and dove head first into the game, greedily snatching up the dagger as soon as she saw it. Not once since the game began had she even thought about finding Bon Bon or trying to survive along side her. She had, however, thought that if it absolutely had to happen, she would kill the cream colored pony. The thought of Bon Bon dying saddened her, but if it meant she could survive, Lyra was willing to do anything.

* * *

Thanks for reading, and be sure to leave a nice review!


	5. Sand Castles and Promises

I don't own My Little Pony or its related characters in anyway shape or form. I do, however own the characters Sweetmint and Grey Reaper.

* * *

Chapter 5 Sand Castles and Promises

Applejack ran at full speed. She had just heard somepony scream, and was determined to find and help them. She had no idea where the scream had come from, and whomever it was that had screamed hadn't made any other noises loud enough for her to hear. Despite all that, Applejack continued forward, confident she was heading in the right direction.

"Just stay right where ya' are," she said to herself, "I'll be there soon to help."

* * *

"This is not a fun game," Pinkie Pie grumbled, "Musical Chairs? Fun. Hide and Go Seek? Fun. Killing your best friends? Not fun."

The pink pony looked around her. She had ended up in the middle of the desert. Initially, Pinkie began playing in the soft sand, trying to build a sand castle, like at the beach, but the sand here was to dry and wouldn't stick together. She knew that playing in the sand when there were ponies trying to kill her wasn't a very good idea, but she had to do something to keep her mind off of this horrible situation. It hadn't helped.

She decided to start moving, knowing it would be safer then sitting around making sand castles. Well, making sand mounds actually. There were no clouds in the sky, and, as deserts usually are, it was unbearably hot. Sweat poured down Pinkies face like a waterfall, leaving a trail of wet sand behind her that instantly dried.

Pinkie became very thirsty as she continued to walk across the soft sand. "Water…" she mumbled, "Need… Water…"

Then, as if some higher power decided to take pity upon her, she saw an oasis over the dune was climbing. She rushed down and jumped into the pond, feeling immediate relief as she sank into the cool water. She started gulping down large mouthfuls of water, soothing her raw throat.

"This is great," she said, still submerged in the water, "Hmm, I wonder if I could build a sand castle here?"

She climbed onto the shore and found the sand to be perfect for sand castles. She built a small castle that looked similar to Celestia's palace in Canterlot. Pleased with her work she set off again, hoping to escape the desert quickly.

Finally building a sand castle had finally been able to distract the party loving pony from what was going on, but it didn't last long. Within a few minutes, Pinkie's mind returned to the game she was being forced to play.

"Why can't we play something else?" she said, wiping sweat off of her brow, "And why is stupid desert so big? I'm never going to get out of here."

Several hours seemed to pass, but the sun remained high up in the middle of the sky as if time was stopped. It's not like it mattered. Pinkie was terrible at judging time based on the suns position, so she wouldn't have been able to guess at how much time had passed anyway. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the edge of the desert appeared, green grass and trees extending out for miles.

"Hooray! I'm free!" she exclaimed, rushing forward, happy to finally be somewhere else.

* * *

Derpy's stomach grumbled loudly. "Be quiet belly!" she whispered harshly, "You're gonna give away my position!"

The grey pegasus, like Rainbow Dash, was taking refuge in a tree. A considerable amount of time had passed since her last meal, and her stomach wanted to make that fact clear to her. Unfortunately, it also wanted others to know that as well, much to Derpy's displeasure.

Luck seemed to be smiling upon her though, as nopony had passed by her hiding spot. Still, the grumbling was loud enough to be heard on the ground, and she didn't want to be found and killed.

"There's nothing to eat here Mr. Grumble Belly," she said quietly, "So just shut up for a while, ok?"

Her stomach responded with another grumble of hunger. Derpy sighed and shook her head. "Fine, you win."

Derpy pulled some leaves off of a branch near her head and stuck them in her mouth. She began to chew, than spat them out immediately.

"Gross! What kind of leaves are these?" she continued to spit, trying desperately to get the taste of the leaves out of her mouth, "I hope you're happy now Mr. Grumble Belly."

Another grumble answered her. She responded by slamming a hoof into her stomach and shouting, "Shut up!" She then doubled over, hooves wrapped around her midsection. "Ow… That was dumb," she muttered, "I'm sorry Mr. Grumble Belly. When we get out of here, I'll give you lots of muffins, I promise."

* * *

"What do you mean, 'I'll do for now'?" the white unicorn stared up at her attacker.

Trixie continued to glare at… Oh, what was her name again? Elusive? No, that wasn't it. Oh well, Trixie didn't really care what her name was. She was one of that bitch Twilight Sparkle's friends, and that's all that mattered.

"Trixies sure you remember what that bitch friend of yours did to Trixie, humiliating her in front of the whole town," Trixie's glare intensified, "Ever since that day, Trixies been trying to figure someway to get revenge, and this game has given Trixie the perfect opportunity to get it."

A sudden look of realization crossed the face of the white unicorn. "You're going to try and kill Twilight?"

Trixie smiled. "That is Trixies ultimate plan. But, if by some stroke of bad luck, Trixie doesn't cross paths with Twilight Sparkle and she survives, having to live knowing that she couldn't save her friends will do just fine."

The white unicorn – what was her name? – glared at her. "What a petty bitch you are. Someponies better than you and you can't deal with it, so you decide to kill her and her friends. I won't be sad to see you go."

"Trixies not the one going somewhere. You are." Trixie spun the spear around, striking the other unicorn under the chin and knocking her onto her back. Then, before the white unicorn could react, Trixie plunged the spears blade through her stomach. The spear easily pierced her skin and came out of her back, lodging itself in the ground, pinning the other unicorn to the ground.

An impossibly loud scream of pain escaped Rarity – yes, that was name – Rarity's lips. She reached forward, grasping the spear with both hooves then screamed and let go. Her eyes were shut tight and her breathing sounded pained.

Trixie looked down at her and laughed. She stepped forward and leaned down, so that their faces were close together. Rarity's eyes opened and started in to Trixies with a mixture of pain and complete contempt.

"Writhe in pain," Trixie whispered, then turned and walked away, making sure to bump the shaft of the spear as she did, forcing another scream from her victim.

"Just try and beat that Twilight."

* * *

A loud scream pierced the air. Fluttershy let out a squeak at the sound, then pressed her body flat against the ground and covered her head with her hooves.

"What was that? Did somepony get hurt?"

The timid pegasus was to frightened to try and find out what had happened. In fact, she hadn't moved from the thick brush she had appeared in since the game began. She knew that Grey Reaper was watching her, and that if she stayed in one place for to long, something bad would happen to her. The thought of that frightened her even more and left her to scared to move. It wasn't a very good plan, but fear was clouding her mind too much for her to do anything else.

* * *

Applejack continued forward, running as fast as she possibly could. The additional screams she heard helped direct her towards its source.

"Where are you?" she muttered, looking around.

She followed a dirt path into a rocky area near a mountain. She was certain the screams came from somewhere around here, but she couldn't find anypony. She turned a corner and saw it. Lying on her back, dark red pool forming underneath her with a long wooden pole sticking straight up out of her stomach was Rarity.

"Rarity!" she screamed rushing towards her friend.

The white unicorn turned her head and smiled. "Applejack…" she whispered.

"What happened? Who did this?" the earth pony asked, cradling Rarity head in her lap.

"It was Trixie. She wants to kill Twilight."

"Trixie? I shoulda' known that snake in the grass would do sometin' like this."

"Listen Applejack," Rarity raised a hoof to her friends cheek, "I want you to promise me something."

"What is it?"

"Promise me you'll survive. Make it out of this stupid game alive, and when you get back home, take care of Sweetie Belle."

"What? No, you're gonna be fine," tears began to fill Applejacks eyes, "You can take care of her yerself."

Rarity let out a small scoff and smiled. "You were never very good at lying Applejack. I know I'm done for. Just promise me, okay?"

Tears fell from Applejacks eyes as she choked out the words, "I promise Rarity."

"Thank you Applejack. Thank…" Rarity's hoof fell to her side and her chest stopped moving.

"Rarity? Rarity!" Applejack shook her friend, desperately trying to wake her, but it was too late. Rarity was dead.

* * *

Sorry Rarity fans. Don't worry, I'll make it up to you later. Anyway, thanks for reading.


	6. Armed and Dangerous

I don't own My Little Pony or it's related characters in anyway shape or form. I do however own the characters of Sweetmint and Grey Reaper.

* * *

Chapter 6 Armed and Dangerous

"Attention everypony! Attention!" Grey Reaper's voice boomed across the entire playing field, "We have just had our first death of the game! Good job to you all. I'm sure you're all wondering who the lucky pony was, well most of you are anyway. The honor of the first death in this game goes to Rarity. Now then, to those of you currently hiding out, I just want you to know that if you don't move somewhere else within the next hour, I'll be visiting you. That is all."

* * *

Applejack didn't hear a word Grey Reaper had just said. She stared down at Rarity's face. The unicorn's eyes were wide open, staring at nothing, her mouth slightly open.

Applejack laid her friends head back on the ground, closing her eyes and mouth as she did. She then leaned forward and placed a small kiss on her friend's forehead.

"Don't you worry none," Applejack whispered, "I'll find Trixie and make sure she pays for this."

* * *

Rainbow Dash stared at the sky. "An hour, huh…"

Being a member of the weather team, Rainbow Dash was quite adept at using the sun to tell time. Unfortunately, the sun seemed very insistent on staying in one place no matter how much time passed.

"How am I supposed to know when an hour passes if I can't use the sun?"

The news of Rarity's death had shocked the pegasus, but the declaration regarding those hiding out worried her more. Being given only an hour to get moving seemed like a blessing, but with no reliable way to tell time, it felt more like a death sentence.

She looked back down at the weapon she was holding and a sudden rage filled her.

"Celestia dammit!" she cursed, "I can't do this! I can't fucking do this!"

Dash threw the crossbow she was holding to the ground with a yell and flew off in the opposite direction. She stopped and looked back at the small grove of trees.

"Celestia. Fucking. Dammit. I can't believe I'm doing this."

Rainbow Dash flew back into the grove, landing on the ground and glanced around. She spotted the discarded crossbow a few feet to her left and picked it up.

"I hate myself so much," she grumbled and flew off.

* * *

Fluttershy wandered aimlessly away from her hiding place. The announcement a moment ago had managed to get the timid pegasus up and moving. She didn't know where she was heading or what was lurking around her. All she knew was that she had to move or else she'd end up like Rarity.

"That was Rarity I heard," she realized, "That was Rarity."

She stopped and stared at the ground, eyes wide with terror.

"Oh Celestia, that was Rarity! Oh Celestia, what happened to her? Who did that her?"

The wind blew past, rustling the nearby leaves. The sudden noise caused her to jump in fright, believing it to be another pony. She then ran, seeking to put as much distance as she could between her and her imagined attacker.

* * *

Sweetmint stuck her head out the bushes and quickly looked around before pulling her head back in. Having seen nopony around, the green pegasus felt it was safe enough to move.

She climbed out of the bushes, being careful not to make any noise. She took another look around, before flying off. She scanned the ground as she flew, keeping an eye out for the others, as well as a weapon.

Now that she knew how her sister had died, Sweetmint was determined to survive the game. She knew it wouldn't bring Wintergreen back, but it felt like the right thing to do, given the circumstances, and having a weapon would help her immensely.

She noticed something below her and swooped down to investigate. "What is that?" she wondered aloud.

A strange metal object sat on the ground in front of her. It was a circular disk, roughly a foot across and the edge looked as though it had been sharpened like a razor, except for one spot that had a piece of cloth attached to it, just large enough for a pony to hold in their hoof.

"Is this some kind of death frisbee?" She picked it up, being careful to only touch the cloth grip, and looked more closely at it. It was fairly light for being made of solid metal. Sweetmint turned and threw the disk at a tree. It flew through the air with incredible speed and imbedded itself at least six inches into the trunk.

The pegasus whistled as she walked over to the tree, impressed by the disks performance. She grabbed the disks cloth grip, and with slight effort, pulled it free.

"Wow," she said smiling, "Death frisbee, you're definitely a keeper."

* * *

Pinkie hummed as she walked trough the dense collection of trees. Very little light was able pierce the thick canopy above her head, and what light did shine through projected a very strange pattern of shadows on the ground.

Pinkie stopped suddenly and sighed, casting her eyes downward. "This isn't working either…" she mumbled.

After hearing about Rarity, Pinkie immediately began to try and distract herself from what was happening. She tried doing a little dance, then drawing pictures in the dirt, and then singing, but nothing helped. No matter what she did, her mind always drifted back to Rarity and the game that had claimed her life.

"One of my bestest friends is dead." She sighed again then continued forward. She only moved a few feet before stopping again. Something was lying on the ground in front of her.

"A club? I finally find a weapon, and it's a club?" Pinkie picked up the large, lumpy wooden club and looked it over. She sighed once more – Pinkie couldn't remember a time when she'd sighed so much before today – and decided to take it with her. "It's better then nothing I guess."

* * *

Derpy slowly flew away from her tree, looking all around her as she did, afraid that somepony would suddenly appear and attack her.

"This wouldn't be so bad if I just had something to defend myself with," she mused as she glided above the ground, stomach grumbling once more.

The same bit of luck that was apparently keeping the others away from her wasn't helping her find any weapons though. She didn't really even care what kind of weapon she found; she just wanted to have something to make her feel safer. Then, she saw something glittering in the nearby bushes.

"Yay! A weapon!" she exclaimed as she dove towards the bush. She landed and began to search for the shiny thing.

She quickly found it, a hunting bow made of a very shiny, lightweight plastic. A quiver of arrows lay next to it.

"A bow and arrow? What the heck? I can't use this!"

It didn't come as much of a shock to anypony else, but Derpy Hooves had severe issues with depth perception at times. Having a weapon that relied on being able to judge distance to be effective was not the ideal weapon for the grey pegasus.

She looked at the bow for moment more before growling and slinging the weapon and its quiver across her back.

"Ugh. This is such bullshit…"she grumbled as she began to hover off the ground, "Guess I don't have much of a flippin' choice tough…"

* * *

Thanks for reading and be sure to leave a nice review.


	7. Pulling Your Heartstrings

I don't own My Little Pony in any way, shape, or form. I do however own the characters of Sweetmint and Grey Reaper.

* * *

Chapter 7 Pulling Your Heartstrings

"What in the world?"

Twilight stood, dumbfounded, starring at the strange, ramshackle shed in front of her.

"Why is this here? Does somepony actually live in this place?"

She looked around, and seeing nopony, decided to step inside. The interior, much like the rough, unadorned exterior, was unimpressive. The floor was nonexistent, just a bit of straw spread on the dirt and the walls were bare. The only thing of interest was a small cupboard in the corner.

Twilight moved forward cautiously and opened the cupboard. Inside was a bottle of water and a small bag filled with some sort of cracker. The sight of the food caused her stomach to let out a small grumble.

Twilight placed a hoof on her stomach and mumbled, "It has been a while since I last ate." She reached out towards the bag, but stopped. "Wait, why is this stuff even here?" Suddenly, it dawned on the unicorn.

"This stuff's been poisoned. I bet Grey Reaper put this food here so that some hungry pony would eat it and die. Ha. That kind of trick may work on someponies, but not me. Nice try kid," she called out, "But you're gonna have to do better then that!"

"Oh, please. I would never do something so underhanded. You have to give me some credit," came a familiar voice from behind.

Twilight turned, sword drawn, eyes darting around and called out, "Where are you?"

"The Preparation Room," came the response, "Watching you and the others."

Twilight relaxed slightly, but kept the katana floating in front of her. "What do you want?"

"Just to tell you that the food and water you found is safe. I said at the beginning that you would be killing each other, and I would only kill if I felt somepony wasn't playing. Putting out poisoned food is not part of the game."

"So, what? This is just like, a bonus or something?"

"Something like that. You found it, so you can have it. Enjoy!" Grey Reapers voice faded away, leaving Twilight alone once again.

Twilight sheathed the blade and turned back the cupboard, stomach grumbling again. "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to eat."

* * *

Pinkie stumbled as she moved through the forest, vision blurring slightly.

"Uh… Why am I so sleepy…" she muttered.

It had been a couple hours since she had first woken up in the Preparation Room. If anything, she should have been wide-awake. The fact that she was in a life or death situation should have set her adrenaline levels through the roof. Despite all that, the pink pony was so tired that she could barely move.

"Need… Sleep…"

Spotting a dense collection of bushes, Pinkie made her way over to them, hiding deep inside and curled up on the ground. Before she could close her eyes and drift to sleep, however, she had a sudden thought.

'Somepony could easily find me down here and pick me off. I need a better hiding spot.'

With some difficulty, she stood back up and looked around. Seeing a nearby tree, Pinkie formed a plan. Holding her club in her mouth, she began climbing. She reached a large branch and lied down, eyes closing and instantly drifted to sleep.

* * *

Lyra moved stealthily through the meadow, being careful to keep Berry Punch within her sights. The plum colored earth pony had no idea she was being followed, and, even better, she was carrying a hammer. It wasn't much improvement over the dagger, she knew, but having two weapons would give her a definite advantage over the others.

Berry stopped and glanced around. Lyra, seeing this, dropped back and pressed herself to the ground, hopping the grass was enough to conceal her. It was, apparently, as Berry continued on her way.

'That's right, keep moving,' Lyra thought as she began to move again, 'I'll get you soon enough.'

* * *

Rainbow Dash lay flat against the hill overlooking the meadow. From where she was, the pegasus could see Lyra and Berry Punch, but neither of them could see her. She pressed the crossbows stock firmly against her shoulder and took careful aim at the mint green unicorn.

"Celestia forgive me," she said to herself and pulled the trigger.

The bolt was launched with a small twang and flew straight and true, burying itself in Lyra's neck. The unicorn fell to the ground and blood began pooling around her. Dash turned away and vomited.

"Element of Loyalty my ass," she said wiping her mouth, "I just killed one of my friends."

She looked back to the meadow and loaded another blot into the crossbow, but Berry Punch was nowhere to be seen.

"What the? Where did she…? Ugh, fine. I didn't want to kill anyway."

Dash stood up and walked away from the meadow and the pony whose life she had just ended.

* * *

Lyra had only taken a few steps forward when something sharp pierced the side of her neck. She opened her mouth to scream, but the only sound that came out was a wet gurgle. She fell to her side and felt something wet and warm spread around her head.

'This is the end,' she thought as her vision began to fade, 'I'm sorry everypony. What a stupid game. I actually wanted to kill you all.'

With what little power she could manage, Lyra pulled out her dagger and began to write something on the ground.

'I'm sorry Bon Bon. I love you,' she thought before darkness overtook her.

* * *

"Guess what everypony?" Grey Reaper called out to the entire playing field, "We've just had death number two! The lucky pony this time was Lyra! Also, somepony has found something that will give them an advantage over the rest of you: food. But don't worry, there is more food hidden around. Good luck finding it."

* * *

Bon Bon couldn't believe what she had just heard. Lyra, dead? It couldn't be true. It had to be a lie, a trick of some kind.

"Lyra can't be dead. She can't be," Bon Bon's eyes were tear filled, "We were going to go to Manehattan next week. We were going to have so much fun. And I was going to… to…"

Bon Bon fell to the ground and began sobbing. Bon Bon had been the one to organize the trip, with the ultimate goal of proposing to Lyra. But now, that would never happen. The two could never be married now, all because of this twisted game.

* * *

Thanks for reading and be sure to leave a nice review.


	8. Bad Dream

Sorry this took so long. Due to some personal issues, new chapters will probably be coming out about this fast for while. There's not much I can do about it, so, unfortunately, you'll just have to wait. Sorry. Anyway, I don't own My Little Pony or it's related characters in any way shape or form. I do however own the characters of Sweetmint and Grey Reaper.

* * *

Chapter 8 Bad Dream

Derpy couldn't believe it. Food. The very thing she needed, hidden somewhere in the playing field. Her luck was definitely improving.

"I wonder what kind of food it is…" she wondered, scanning the ground for anything that looked even remotely food like, "I hope its muffins."

As she soared above the ground, her surroundings began to change from forests and fields to mountains and something caught her eye.

"What is that?"

Derpy descended, landing next to a small wooden crate. She easily removed the top and peered inside. Sitting in the crate was a small bottle filled what looked like some kind of fruit juice, a small loaf of bread, and a wedge of cheese.

"Yay! Food!" she exclaimed, immediately digging into newfound sustenance.

* * *

Pinkie bounced up and down, a huge smile plastered across her face. Today was Rainbow Dash's birthday, and the pink pony had a super special surprise planned for her friend.

She checked the decorations spread around her room and glanced at the clock. 1:50. Dash would be arriving in about ten minutes.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Pinkie squealed, still bouncing.

Time ticked by, and yet Rainbow Dash had yet to appear. Pinkie glanced at the clock again. 2:10.

"Where is she?"

Dash was usually pretty punctual when it came to meeting Pinkie.

"Maybe she forgot…" Pinkie said looking out her window, "I'll just go find and remind her."

Pinkie left Sugarcube Corner and made her way to the blue pegasus' cloud house.

"RAINBOW DASH!" she called out, "ARE YOU HOME?"

The windows were all dark and there was no answer from inside.

"RAINBOW DASH!" she called out louder, but still received no answer.

Pinkie stared upwards, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Pinkie, help…" came a sudden voice from behind.

The earth pony turned and screamed. Rainbow Dash was lying on the ground, her wings broken. Her legs bent at odd angles, bits of bone poking out from under the skin. Her face was covered in blood and her nose was broken.

"Please Pinkie. Help me," she said weakly.

The sight of friend, broken and bloodied, horrified Pinkie. She stood there, not knowing what to say or do.

"I-I… Dash… You…" she stammered, backing away from the pegasus.

"Pinkie, help!" Dash said more forcefully, dragging her body forward, wincing as the bones in her legs touched the ground, and leaving a trail of blood behind her.

"G-get away! Go away!" Pinkie yelled, turning to run, but stopped. Another Rainbow Dash was there, same injuries, crawling towards her.

"Pinkie, help…" the two Dashes said.

"STOP IT! STOP IT!" Pinkie yelled closing her eyes and covering her ears, "GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Pinkie opened her eyes, yelping and leaping to her feet. Suddenly, there was no ground beneath her and she fell, flailing her legs as she did, trying to grab something to stop her sudden descent, but found nothing. Then, just as suddenly as she had begun to fall, she stopped, slamming into the ground below her and was enveloped by darkness.

* * *

Twilight's stomach grumbled softly as she made her way through the forest. The crackers she had just eaten weren't very filling and her stomach was demanding more.

"Another pony dead," she mumbled, ignoring the pangs of hunger in her abdomen, "Is there really no other way aside from killing each other to end this stupid game?"

Twilight hadn't known Lyra very well, but she still considered the mint colored unicorn to be a friend.

As horrible as it seemed, Twilight was able see one good thing about the situation. The more deaths, the closer the game came to ending and they could go home. Well, a few of them would be going home.

* * *

Who was Lyra? Trixie recognized the name, but couldn't think of whom it belonged to. Was she one of Twilights friends? No, the name was familiar, but that wasn't why.

Oh, well. It didn't matter. Two ponies were dead. Four more and the game would be over.

"And with any luck, that bitch will be one of them. Trixie just hopes she gets to be the one to kill her."

* * *

Bon Bon stumbled forward, eyes red and puffy. She had no idea where she was going; she only knew that she had to keep moving. Having another pony sneak up and kill her wouldn't help her at all.

Now that Lyra was dead, Bon Bon abandoned her plan to find an ally. She didn't know who or how, but one of the others had killed Lyra, and Bon Bon was not about to team up with a murderer.

Continuing forward, the earth pony stumbled down a hill, ending up in a large meadow. She looked around and her heart stopped.

Lying in the grass only a few feet away from her was Lyra.

"No…" she whispered, eyes instantly filling with tears.

She shakily moved towards the lifeless body of her filly friend, dropping to her knees when she got to her. She hugged the unicorn's head tightly, holding it against her chest and kissed her on the forehead.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help you," she whispered, "I'm so sorry."

She placed her lovers head back down, noticing the small metal shaft sticking out of her neck.

She grasped it and carefully pulled it out, looking at it closely.

"So, somepony has a bow and arrows. I'll need to be extra careful."

Placing the arrow down, she saw Lyra's dagger on the ground in front of her, the tip covered in dirt. Near where the dagger lay, something was scrawled in the dirt. It appeared to a heart with the letters "BB" written inside. The hoof writing was unmistakably Lyras. Bon Bon collapsed to the ground and began sobbing again.

* * *

Pinkie's eyes opened slowly. She was lying on the ground at the foot of a large tree, a club nearby.

"What… Where… Am I?"

Pinkie's mind felt fuzzy, like somepony had put a wool sweater around her brain. She decided to get up and look around, hoping that would help jog her memory.

As soon as she stood, however, an intense pain shot through her body and she fell back to the ground with a pained yell. She looked at her body and found the source of the sudden pain. Her left back leg was twisted at an odd angle and the joint of her knee was slightly swollen. The sight of her injured leg caused the fog clouding her mind to clear.

Pinkie was being forced to play a game where she had to kill her friends. She had climbed into a tree so she could take a quick nap without having to worry about somepony killing her. While she was asleep, she had a nightmare and fell out of the tree.

Taking care not to put to much weight on her leg, Pinkie stood back up. Keeping her injured leg off the ground, the pink pony was able to stand and move slowly. She picked her club back up and limped away from the tree. She needed to do something about her leg, but had no idea what. If anypony would know, it would be Twilight.

"Twilight! I have to find her. She'll fix me up and then we can team up and stay alive."

The only problem with her plan would be finding the purple unicorn without running into another pony. With her injury, she would be easy pickings for one the ponies that was actively playing.

"Pinkie, is that you?" a quiet voice asked from behind her.

Somepony had found her. They were going to attack, Pinkie was sure of it. Propelled purely by adrenaline and the will to survive, Pinkie spun, swinging her club as hard she possibly could, not bothering to see who it was. The weapon connected with the others head, making a loud and painful cracking sound as it did. The other pony fell to the ground immediately.

Pinkie stood above her victim, panting for moment, before realizing who it was. She stared down at the yellow coat, pink mane, and butterfly cutie mark, instantly recognizing the pony at her feet. Pinkie had just killed Fluttershy.

* * *

Thanks for reading and be sure to leave a nice review.


	9. Like Flies

I went back and fixed up the previous chapters a bit, eliminating any spelling or grammar mistakes I could see. Let me know if I missed any. Anyway, I don't own My Little Pony or its related characters in any way, shape or form. I do however own the characters of Sweetmint and Grey Reaper.

* * *

Chapter 9 Like Flies

"No… Fluttershy… You… I…" Pinkie stammered, unable to comprehend what just happened. The pink pony dropped to her knees, vision blurred by tears.

"P-Pinkie…" Fluttershy's voice was weak and quiet. Her eyelids opened slightly, her green eyes unable to focus on anything.

"Fluttershy! You're okay! I'm so sorry. I didn't know it was you and I was-"

"Pinkie."

The earth pony stopped talking and gave the yellow pegasus her full attention.

"It's my fault Pinkie. I didn't i-identify myself. I'm sorry."

"Don't say that!" Pinkie said stomping her hoof, "I'm the one that hit you, and now you're…"

Fluttershy weakly raised a hoof and placed it over Pinkie's mouth, silencing her.

"It's okay. I do-don't blame you P-Pinkie…"

Pinkies moved Fluttershy hoof away from her mouth and said, "But I blame me. I did this to you. I have to take responsibility. So, I'm gonna go get help! I'll find Twilight and bring her here. She'll fix you up, okay?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "No Pinkie. It's to late for me. Just let me go. Please."

Pinkie shook her head. "I'm gonna find Twilight and she's gonna help you! So just stay alive till I get back! Pinkie Promise you'll stay alive! Please!"

"Okay, Pinkie. Cr-Cross my heart, h-hope to fly, stick a c-cupcake in my eye," Fluttershy weakly replied.

Satisfied, Pinkie picked her club up and rushed off as fast as her injured leg could take her.

* * *

"How big is this stupid forest?"

Twilight had been wandering through the dense collection of trees since the game began. The repetitive scenery was really starting to get on the unicorns nerves. She also hadn't seen any other ponies, though given the current situation that was probably a good thing.

"I guess being lost in here is okay if I don't run into anypony else."

"TWILIGHT!" a voice screamed from her right, followed by the heavy hoof steps of somepony running towards her.

"What? Who's there?" Twilight turned, just in time the large pink blob barreling down on her before it slammed into her, knocking them both to the ground. Untangling herself from the pink pony, Twilight stood and asked, "Pinkie, what's wrong?"

Pinkie rose to her hooves and began talking rapidly, her words smashing together into a jumbled, unintelligible mess of sounds.

"Pinkie, slow down!" Twilight said, "What's going on?"

Pinkie took in a small breath before blurting out, "It's Fluttershy! She's in trouble Twilight! You have to help her! Please!"

"Okay Pinkie. I understand. Take me to her."

Pinkie nodded and started off towards where the yellow pegasus lay.

"Wait, Pinkie! Your leg!" Twilight said, noticing her injury, "Let me do some-"

"There's no time!" Pinkie interrupted, "We have to get to her before-"

"Hey everypony!" Grey Reapers voice boomed out.

"No…" Pinkie fell back onto her haunches at the sound of their hosts' voice.

"Another death has just occurred! Fluttershy was the lucky pony this time, or maybe unlucky would be a better adjective here. Oh well, I'm sure you've all had just about enough of the sun, so I'm gonna go ahead and make it night for a while. Enjoy!"

"She… Made a Pinkie Promise… She promised that she'd…" Pinkie muttered to herself, staring at the ground, oblivious to the rest of the world.

Twilight moved close to friend, and wrapped her forelegs tightly around her.

"I'm sorry Pinkie," she whispered, "I'm sorry."

The purple unicorn then began gathering a few objects from the area around them; some thick and sturdy sticks, vines, and plants she recognized from a medical book. Working quickly, Twilight mashed the plants into a paste and rubbed it over Pinkies injured leg. She then, as gently as she could, moved the leg into its proper position and tied the sticks to it with the vines, creating a makeshift splint. Pinkie didn't notice anything Twilight did.

"I couldn't help Fluttershy, but I can certainly help you," she said after finishing her work, "Two of my closest friends are dead. I won't let anymore die."

* * *

The sun moved quickly across the sky, setting in less then a minute and was replaced by the moon. The sky turned dark and filled with stars. Although it wasn't as bright as the sun, the moon provided enough illumination that everypony was still able to see. Well, most everypony.

"Why does it have to be so dark," Derpy complained.

For the same reason that she had problems with depth perception, Derpy also had above average issues with seeing in the dark. By combining these two issues, the bow and arrows she had found were now effectively useless.

Sticking to the ground, Derpy moved as silently as she could, doing her best not to attract attention. Unfortunately, because she was, well Derpy Hooves, she managed to step on every single stick in her path as well as several small piles of dry leaves, producing cracks and crunches with each step. Despite all the noise, somehow, nopony found her. For some reason, luck seemed to be firmly on the side of the grey pegasus.

But, like all things, Derpy's luck could only last for so long.

"Is somepony there?" a voice quietly called out.

Derpy stopped and glanced around, but couldn't see who had spoken.

"Hello?" the voice called again, "Is somepony there?"

The grey pegasus began to panic. Whoever was out there was obviously out to get her, and any answer she gave would be inviting death. She glanced around in the moonlight and spotted a nearby tree. Acting quickly, Derpy flew up into it and looked down at the ground.

"I'm certain I heard something," the same voice said. A pony then appeared below her. It was hard to see who it was in the low light, but it appeared to be an earth pony.

Quietly as she could Derpy slipped the bow off of her back and readied an arrow. Taking careful aim, the pegasus pulled back on the bowstring and then let the arrow fly.

The projectile soared towards its target, then continued past, sailing over her head and burying itself in the ground a few feet away with a small thud.

"Damn, missed," Derpy muttered, preparing another arrow.

"What the?" the other pony said, turning towards the arrow. Moving quickly, she pulled it from the ground and held it close to her face. "YOU!" she screamed turning to face the direction it came from, "You killed Lyra!"

The sudden anger of her target startled Derpy and she dropped the arrow she was holding. "What? No! I haven't killed anypony!" she called down, and then quickly covered her mouth, realizing her mistake. 'Oh no. I'm done for now,' she thought.

"Liar!" Bon Bon yelled, moving towards the tree where the grey pegasus was hidden.

'What do I do? What do I do?' Derpy franticly thought, looking around. She didn't want to risk flying in the dark, for fear of injuring herself, and staying put was definitely not an option. With her vision problems, trying to run in the dark didn't seem like a good idea either. Suddenly, and without warning, the tree began shaking.

"Get down here!" Bon Bon yelled up at her, bucking the tree as hard as she could.

Acting fast, Derpy leapt to the ground and began running in the opposite direction.

"Oh no you don't!" the earth pony gave chase, easily catching up to the fleeing pegasus, tackling her to the ground. Straddling Derpy, Bon Bon reached to her side and drew a dagger, moonlight glinting off of the polished steel. "I'll make you pay!" she said, plunging the knife towards Derpy's chest.

Shifting her position, Derpy unbalanced her attacker and pushed her off. "I already told you, I didn't kill anypony!"

"Stop lying!" Bon Bon lunged forward, blade slashing towards Derpys chest. The grey pegasus leapt back, avoiding the attack, then pulled out an arrow and quickly fired it towards the pony in front of her. The arrow sailed past Bon Bon, missing her by at least two feet and buried itself in a tree.

The cream colored pony rushed forward, crashing into Derpy, slashing and stabbing as they fell to the ground. Derpy managed to get hold of Bon Bon's forelegs, stopping the attack as the two ponies began struggling to gain control of the dagger. They rolled around, dagger hovering between both of their chests, drifting close to each as they continued to tussle. Derpy managed to roll her adversary over, pinning her to the ground, pressing her forelegs and the dagger clutched firmly in her hooves down.

Bon Bon screamed as the blade penetrated her soft flesh and buried itself in her chest. Derpy released her grip and got off of the earth pony. She looked down at Bon Bon, panting as the other pony's eyes closed, a large dark spot spreading across her chest. The adrenaline faded, and gravity of what she just did dawned on her.

"No no no! Bon Bon, I didn't…. You were…." she stammered, "I just…. Just… Killed you…"

* * *

"My, you sure a bloodthirsty lot!" Grey Reaper giggled as she addressed the players, "Only four hours into the game and we already have four deaths? Simply amazing! This time, Bon Bon was the pony unfortunate enough to die. Good luck to the rest of you!"

* * *

Thanks for reading, and be sure to leave a nice review.


	10. Losing Control

I don't own My Little Pony in anyway shape or form. I do however own the characters of Sweetmint and Grey Reaper.

* * *

Chapter 10 Losing Control

The mere sight of the weapon sickened her. It had been used to kill one of her friends. More then anything, she wanted to throw it away, far away, where nopony could ever find it again and be done with it forever. But she needed it, for protection, so that she could stay alive. Plus, it would be a vast improvement over the practically useless bow she had found earlier.

Derpy pulled the dagger from Bon Bon's chest. Pulling a clump of grass from the ground, Derpy wiped the blood off and placed it into the sheath hanging from the dead earth pony's side. She then placed her bow and quiver of arrows on the ground and unbuckled the belt wrapped around Bon Bon and fastened it around her own body.

She looked down at the pony she killed and, unsure of what to say or do, turned and walked away.

* * *

Applejack sank her teeth into a peach as she stared at the moon, juice running down her face. She wasn't used to the fuzzy fruit, having grown up on an apple orchid, but found the sweetness appealing. She had found a bag filled with peaches just before Grey Reaper announced Fluttershy's death.

She had barely enough time to find somewhere to sit and rest when the sun set and had just finished off the first of the fuzzy fruits when the announcement of Bon Bon's death was made.

"Games almost done and I still haven't found Trixie…" she mumbled, wiping peach juice off of her chin, "I aint givin' up though. I'll find her Rarity, and I'll make her wish she was never born."

Finishing the peach, the orange pony threw the pit away and got up, slinging the sack of fruit across her back and picked up the hatchet that lay near her. She had found it after leaving Rarity, deciding that it would be perfect for taking out The Great and Powerful Trixie. The only problem was finding her.

She moved towards a clearing near the base of the mountainous area she was in. Reaching the center of said clearing, Applejack was suddenly struck by an idea.

"I could use these as bait," she said, looking at the bag of fruit. She placed it on the ground, lying on its side so that a few of the peaches rolled out onto the ground. "Perfect," she said. Glancing around, Applejack ran to a thick collection of bushes and dove inside, watching the bag intently. "Now, we wait."

* * *

"Four," Rainbow Dash said, "Four of my friends are dead. And I killed one of them."

The pegasus had been doing her best to stay as far away she could from the others since killing Lyra, hoping she could survive without having to kill again. She still carried the crossbow, knowing that it would be useful for protecting herself.

"What if I do make it out of here? What then? I go on living, knowing I killed one of my friends? Some life that'll be… Maybe I'll just leave Ponyville. Go live in the Everfree forest or something, so I never have see another pony again," she thought aloud, then looked at the weapon in her hooves, "Or maybe I should just kill myself right now. I'd being doing everypony a big favor if I did. This dumb game would be over a hell of lot quicker if I did, and the others could go home." The blue pegasus looked up the stars, a small smile spreading across her face. "It's the only way I help my friends out now. See you all later."

Rainbow Dash readied a bolt in the crossbow, then opened her mouth and pointed the front of weapon into her gaping maw.

"Rainbow Dash! What the hell are you doing?" a voice yelled.

Dash lowered the crossbow and looked around. "Who's there?" she called out.

"Your host, and I am wondering what the hell you think you're doing!" Grey Reaper's voice responded.

"What the fuck do you care!" Dash yelled back, "You want to see us die, so just let me fucking kill myself!"

"Sorry, but suicide is not an accepted cause of death in this game."

"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it? Kill me?"

"No. I'm going to do this."

There was a sudden flash of light and the crossbow and bolts were gone.

"What did you just do?"

"Since you can't be trusted, I took your weapon. I've also repositioned all the unclaimed weapons so that you won't be able to find another one."

"You bitch. You're just going to leave me with nothing to defend myself with? What if somepony attacks me?"

"That's your problem, not mine. Now, get back to playing, and if you try anything like this again, there will be severe consequences."

With that final statement, Grey Reapers voice faded away.

Rainbow Dash stared at the ground for a moment before turning her face towards the sky and let out a massive scream of frustration.

* * *

"That shouldn't be there," Twilight said, looking up at the sky, "That star should be way over there. And Orion should be facing the other way."

Years of studying astronomy had given Twilight a perfect map of the night sky in her head. By simply looking at the stars, Twilight could tell you exactly where in Equestria you were. The stars here, however, seemed to have been rearranged completely at random.

"Did she move the stars? No, that's impossible. Not even the princesses could do something like that. Just what's going on here? Pinkie, what do you…" Twilight turned and her voice trailed off, "Oh, right."

Pinkie had been with Twilight for a while after they met up, but the pink pony vanished after Bon Bon's death was announced. Twilight searched the surrounding area but could find no trace of Pinkie. She didn't want to, but Twilight had no choice but to give up the search and continue on her way.

She was worried about Pinkie, out there all alone with an injured leg. The earth pony wouldn't be able to run if attacked, nor would she be able to stand her ground and fight. And given her current state of mind, she may not even notice another pony until it was too late.

"Be careful out there Pinkie."

* * *

"My fault… Dead because of me… Terrible friend…" Pinkie muttered.

She didn't know how – and to tell the truth, didn't even care – but Pinkie had gotten away from Twilight. Now that she was alone, she was content to wander aimlessly, away from everypony, and could be alone with her thoughts. She didn't, however, like that all of her thoughts were about the fact that she had killed Fluttershy.

"Stay away from others… Alone forever… No more friends…"

"Oh, just shut up! Stop feeling sorry for yourself!" a voice yelled at her.

Pinkies ears perked up at the sound and she looked around, calling out, "Who's there?"

"Seriously, it wasn't even your fault. The blame all rests solely on Fluttershy," the voice continued, getting closer.

"Who's there?" Pinkie called again, and then spotted the voices source. A pony came walking out of the trees nearby. Pinkie gasped as the pony got closer, recognizing her instantly. It was Pinkie Pie.

Well, kind of. The pony was the same shade of pink as her, though it color looked as it had grayed a little. Her hair, rather then large untamed curls of hot pink, hung down in a flat sheet. She even had Pinkie's cutie mark.

"What…? How…?" Pinkie was at a loss for words.

"What's wrong? You're not normally this quiet," Pinkamena said, looking at her questioningly, "But then I guess meeting yourself would be a little surprising.

"Anyway, like I was saying," Pinkamena continued, "Fluttershys death was not your fault. It was hers. So stop feeling sorry for yourself and get back to playing."

"This is a trick," Pinkie said, staring at her double, "Your Grey Reaper, or an illusion she made, trying to mess with me. You're not real!"

"Oh please, you don't really believe that," Pinkamena said, smiling, "I should know. I am you after all."

Pinkie opened her mouth, but was to confused to be able to make any sort of noise that could be considered words in any language.

"Every single dark thought and feeling you've ever had. That's me," Pinkamena's smile grew bigger, "I know everything about you, every single one of thoughts, good and bad, all your fears, your hopes and dreams, all of it. Because I live right there," she touched Pinkies forehead, "trying everyday to get control, to turn you back into what you were before, what you were meant to be."

"What are you talking about?" Pinkie asked, finally able to form words again.

"Remember when you were a filly, growing up on the rock farm with mom and dad? Remember how different things were back then? How you never partied, or made up ridiculous songs, or even had friends? How you were, well, me?"

"I remember. Every single day I remember and every day I try to forget. I laugh and play games and sing songs to try and forget, but everyday I remember."

Pinkamena smiled again. "That's the you you're supposed to be. Not this clown you pretend to be. It was really nice of you to let me out on our birthday last year. Best birthday present ever. Why not let me take over again? I'll make sure we survive this game."

"No!" Pinkie covered her ears and pressed herself flat against the ground, "No! I'll never let you out! Not ever again! You can't have control, not again. Not here."

Pinkamena's eyes filled with rage as she beheld the cowering pony. Reaching down, she grabbed Pinkie bay her throat, lifting her off the ground and pulled her close so that their eyes met. "That wasn't a request. I AM taking control, whether you like it or not!"

* * *

Trixie moved cautiously forward. A bag lay in the field in front of her, with some sort of fruit spilling out onto the ground. The prospect of food enticed the unicorn, but the location smelled suspiciously like a trap.

"Trixie does not like this," she mumbled, moving closer to the bag, "Not one bit."

Reaching the object of interest, Trixie picked up one of the fruits and looked at it closely. It was one of those weird fuzzy fruits called a peach. Trixie had seen them before, but never actually ate one. The idea of a fruit with fur seemed gross to her.

"Is this really the only food Trixie can find?" she complained. She looked at the peach in her hoof and sighed, "Might as well make the most of it."

Opening her mouth, Trixie raised the fruit, ready to bite into it. Before she could, however, she felt a powerful blow against her right side, a loud, sickening crack accompanying the pain. Trixie fell to the ground with a pained scream, eyes clenched tightly shut. Opening them, she looked up and saw an orange earth pony standing over her.

The other pony glared at her for a long moment before saying, "Howdy, sugar cube," and reached down, placing a hoof against the side of her head, pressing it firmly against the ground. She raised her other hoof into the air. Trixie could see that it held something, a small axe-like object. Then, before Trixie could say or do anything,the axe came down, aimed straight at her head.

* * *

Thanks for reading, and be sure to leave a nice review.


	11. A Great Loss

I don't own My Little Pony or its related characters in any way shape or form. I do however own the characters of Sweetmint and Grey Reaper.

* * *

Chapter 11 A Great Loss

Trixie stared at the hatchet embedded in the ground, the blade only a few inches from her. The earth pony had missed. She was standing above her and had missed.

No. No, that's impossible. Nopony could miss at that range. This was deliberate. She had struck there for a reason. But why? Why would she… Wait, what's that?

Just beyond the polished metal blade was a turquoise cone, the larger end stained red. There was something odd about the cone that was eluding the turquoise unicorn. Why did the cone look so odd? Trixie couldn't figure it. It was almost like she'd seen it before, but couldn't place where.

Then it hit her. She'd seen the cone everyday when she looked in the mirror, in the center of her forehead. It was her horn. The earth pony above her had cut off her horn. The pain suddenly registered, and Trixie screamed, trying to squirm away, but was being held firmly in place.

"Yer not goin' anywhere hon," the other pony said quietly, then, grabbing Trixie's mane, pulled her head up and slammed it back into the ground. Trixie felt her nose break, the intense pain accompanied by a loud crack, and a river of blood came flowing out.

Once again, Trixie screamed and, once again, tried to squirm away, succeeding this time. Clutching her shattered nose, Trixie glared Appleseed, or whatever her name was. Trixie remembered that she was Twilight's friend, but like Rarity, never bothered to learn her name.

Wait, she's Twilight's friend. Could that be why she was attacking her? To try and save her friend? No, there's no way she could know what Trixie was up to. The only pony she told was Rarity right before she died. But Rarity had screamed rather loudly. Somepony was sure to have heard her and come running. Could that unicorn slut have told this inbred hick, and now she was here to avenge her death and protect Twilight?

"You bitch," she said, voice slightly muffled by her hoof, "I'll get you for that!" Trixie rose to feet, intending to leap towards Appleseed, but instead fell back to ground, yelping at the sudden pain in her side.

"Aw, what's the matter sugar cube?" the orange pony said, walking towards her, "Did ya'll break some ribs when I kicked ya?" Appleseed lifted a hoof and stomped it back down, hard, into Trixie's side, forcing another scream from the unicorn. "Yep, you definitely got some broken ribs."

Trixie glared at her through tear filled eyes, teeth clenched, and face bloodied. "Trixie can tell that you want to kill her," the hornless unicorn said, voice pained, "Why not just get it over with? Are you one of those ponies that gets off on watching others suffer?"

"Ya'll made Rarity suffer. Thought you should get a taste of yer own medicine."

"What goes around comes around?"

"Somethin' like that." With that, Appleseed took hold of Trixies right foreleg. Holding the end in one hoof, she placed her other hoof against the knee joint, holding it firmly in place.

"What are you doing?" Trixie shouted franticly, but the earth pony gave no response. Instead, she began to pull Trixie's leg towards her, forcing the leg to bend in the wrong direction. Pain began to shoot throughout her entire leg and she could do nothing but scream. Then, with a loud, sickening crack, the leg bent back on itself and Trixie screamed louder then she ever screamed before. Appleseed released her leg, which lifelessly fell to the ground, sending a fresh wave of pain through it as it bounced on the ground.

"Now then, how about we do another leg?"

* * *

Sweetmint stared at the ground, trying to figure out what she had just seen.

That pink pony she had meet when she first got to Ponyville had just been in the small clearing below her in the forest. Not only that, she had been talking to something that Sweetmint couldn't see or hear. No, not talking. It was more like she arguing with something, or somepony. Then, her hair deflated and her coat seemed to gray a little and she limped away.

Sweetmint had been so transfixed by the strange scene that was unfolding below her that she completely forgot about her initial intent. Upon seeing Pinkie, Sweetmint prepared to fling her death frisbee, but stopped when she began to talk to the air. As soon as she left the area, Sweetmint remembered what she had been about to do and gave chase, but Pinkie had already disappeared into the thick forest.

"What was she talking to? And what happened to her hair?"

* * *

Berry Punch looked towards the mountains looming above the tops of the trees. An incredibly loud scream just came from somewhere over there. She didn't recognize the voice nor did she feel the need to investigate. Somepony was being attacked, and if she went over there, she would probably end up getting killed.

"I just hope I can get out this," she mumbled and walked away.

* * *

Pain. She felt nothing but pain. One could easily see that just by looking at her. The fact that her right fore and back legs were bent backwards further confirmed this.

Applejack released Trixie's back leg and moved around to the unicorn's front and looked down at her face. Trixie's eyes were closed, but not clenched shut like she was in pain, it was more like she was sleeping.

"Oh come on, don't tell me ya passed out already," Applejack muttered, leaning down. Reaching out, she slapped the side of Trixie's face. "Hey. Wake up." Trixie remained unresponsive. Applejack slapped her again and, a little louder then before, said "Wake up."

Trixie groaned and shifted slightly, eyelids squeezing tightly together before slowly opening, then shutting tightly again as she groaned, once again feeling the pain emanating from her shattered nose and legs.

"There we go," Applejack smiled as she moved around to Trixie's side. Placing both hooves against her stomach, the earth pony pushed, eliciting more sounds of pain from the hornless unicorn and flipped her onto her other side. Trixie screamed as her injured ribs and broken legs slammed into the ground. Applejack walked to Trixie's front and took hold of her left foreleg, and bending it backwards, snapped it like a twig, causing more screams of pain to leave Trixie's mouth.

"Stop… Please stop…" Trixie said through pained breaths. Applejack responded by grasping her left back leg and began pulling. "OK! Ok, Trixies sorry for what she did! Just stop, please!" she desperately pleaded.

Applejack stop pulling on the leg, but still held it firmly in her hooves and said, "Did ya'll give any mercy to Rarity?"

Trixie stared at the earth pony for a moment, then turned away, head drooping in shame. "Didn't think so." With that, Applejack began to pull on the leg again, this time not stopping until she heard the crack of breaking bones and the pained screams of the pony below her.

* * *

Rainbow Dash moved silently towards the screams she heard. Somepony was being killed in some sort of gruesome manner, that much was clear, but what wasn't clear was who was being killed and who was doing the killing.

She hoped that none of her friends were involved, but given who was left, the chances of that were slim to none. Knowing that, she continued forward, hoping that whoever was alive over there would team up with and protect her.

* * *

Trixie watched the earth pony walk away from her, vision blurred by the unimaginable pain coursing through her body.

"Where are you going? Are you just going to leave Trixie here to die?" she said, "Why won't you say anything?"

Applejack turned, hatchet and Trixie's horn held firmly in her hooves. She silently made her way back to the turquoise pony and stopped near her front. Reaching out, she placed the horns point against Trixies left shoulder. With the other hoof, she raised the hatchet so that the flat of the blade hovered above the horn. Then, bringing it down, she began to drive the horn into Trixies shoulder, drawing out intense screams with each blow. Stepping back, Applejack surveyed the damage. The horn had been driven into Trixies shoulder as far it could go, a large river of blood flowing down her body.

"Ya'll aint lookin' so good," she said moving around to Trixie's face. The turquoise pony simply glared at her, then spit in her face. Applejack took a step back and wiped the spit off of her face. "Didn't nopony teach ya'll any manners? It aint polite to spit in others faces. I'm thinkin' I'll need to teach you some proper respect."

Readjusting her grip on the hatchet, Applejack stepped forward again and raised it into the air. She looked down at the broken pony in front of her, and after a moment of hesitation, brought it down, driving the blade deep into Trixies skull. Blood sprayed from the wound and splashed across Applejack's face. She stumbled back, surprised by the warm fluid spraying forth.

"I… I…" she stammered, staring at her victim, "I got her Rarity. I got her."

* * *

"Oh my, looks like we have another death everypony!" Grey Reaper called across the playing field, "Seems the Great and Powerful Trixie didn't have a spell for keeping herself alive. Only one more death until game over, so get out there and kill!"

* * *

Thanks for reading and be sure to leave a nice review!


	12. End Game

I don't own My Little Pony or it's related characters in any way, shape, or form. I do however own the characters of Sweetmint and Grey Reaper.

* * *

Chapter 12 End Game

Applejack stared down at the broken and bloodied mess of a pony that was once Trixie. The broken and bloodied mess that she created with her own two hooves. She touched the handle of the hatchet that was firmly embedded in the hornless unicorn's face. Taking a firm grip, she yanked on the small axe and pulled it free, a fresh spray of blood shooting forth and splashing across her.

"Applejack, is that you?" a voice called from behind her.

The earth pony turned, hatchet raised in the air, ready to strike, but relaxed upon seeing who was behind her. "What are you doin' here Rainbow Dash?" she asked.

"I heard screams," the pegasus said, moving closer to her friend, "I was afraid that one of you guys was in trouble or-" Rainbow Dash's words were cut short as she got a closer look at Applejack. "Your face…" she said, shocked by the sight, "What happened?" She then noticed a bloody lump on the ground behind the earth pony, and pointing at it said, "What is that?"

Applejack glanced behind her and answered, "Trixie."

"That's Trixie?" Rainbow Dash said, appalled by the sight, "What happened to her?"

"I happened."

"You did this?" Rainbow Dash said, horrified by her friend's words, "How could you do something so monstrous? I know Trixie wasn't exactly the nicest pony around, but she didn't deserve this! Nopony deserves this!"

"Not even if they were the one that killed Rarity?" Applejack shot back.

The pegasus was silent for moment, taken aback by her friend's statement. "I… I didn't know," she finally said.

"No, you didn't," Applejack said, turning away from Dash.

Stepping forward, Rainbow Dash placed her forelegs around Applejack's shoulders, saying, "I'm sorry."

The orange pony shrugged off Dash's embrace and walked away, mumbling, "Just leave me alone for a while."

Dash watched her friend go, then looked back at Trixie's corpse and sighed.

"What is this stupid game doing to everypony?" she muttered to herself and walked away in the opposite direction from Applejack.

* * *

Derpy lazily floated above the ground, keeping an eye out for anypony that might be around.

"Only one more," she whispered to herself, "One more and I can go home."

Hearing a small sound, Derpy looked behind her and saw tree branch move slightly, disturbed by a small breeze that blew past.

"Ugh, dumb game. Now I'm getting scared at every little noise I hear."

Tilting, Derpy turned to her right and continued her flight, keeping a careful eye on her surroundings.

* * *

Pinkamena stalked forward through the thick brush, club held at the ready, waiting to strike anypony dumb enough to cross her path. Now that she had control of the body she was forced to share with Pinkie, Pinkamena set out in search of other ponies, more than willing to kill. Fortunately for the others, the pink pony was too far away from them to be a threat.

"Where are they?" she grumbled angrily, looking around, "I didn't take over just so I could wander around. I need to kill something."

"No! Please don't!" Pinkies voiced screamed within her mind.

"Shut up!" she yelled back, "I'm running this show now, and what I say goes. Got it?"

She was answered with silence. Satisfied, she smiled and continued on her way.

* * *

"I made it Wintergreen," Sweetmint said to herself after hearing the announcement, "I survived this stupid game for you."

A sudden rustling to her right pulled Sweetmint out of her celebration. Turning she threw her death frisbee into the bushes. She waited a moment and, hearing nothing else, went to investigate. Finding the frisbee buried in the ground, she pulled it out and glanced around. There was nothing else around her.

"Was it just the wind?" she wondered aloud. Sighing, she turned and moved away. "Right. Games not done yet. Still a chance I could die. Gotta keep an eye out."

* * *

Stepping carefully, Twilight finally made her out of the forest. She looked up at the sky no longer obscured by tree branches and smiled. Freedom felt good. She took a look at her surroundings and discovered that she was now at the edge of a large expanse of sand.

"There's a desert here?" she said to herself, cautiously moving forward. The temperature dropped immediately as she stepped onto the cool sand. Shivering slightly, she stepped back out, her body warming again as she did. "Probably a good idea to stay away from here."

She turned and looked back into the dense collection of trees that stretched out in front of her. "I just got out of there and now I have to go back in? Is there really nowhere else I can go?"

As she stood there, contemplating her options, something began to move within the trees. Tensing slightly, Twilight's horn began to glow, ready to draw out the blade slug across her back. The movement suddenly stopped and a voice called out, "Is somepony there?"

"Who's there?" Twilight called back.

"I asked first!" the voice responded.

Twilight was silent for moment, having been struck by a sudden feeling of déjà vu. Shaking it off she called out, "I'm Twilight Sparkle. Who are you?"

"Berry Punch," came the response, followed by the plum colored pony as she moved out of the forest.

Twilight relaxed at the sight of the earth pony. "Good to see you Berry."

Berry Punch stood a few feet from her, staring at her silently.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked concerned, "Did something happen to you?" That's when she noticed the hammer Berry had clutched in her hoof. "Wait, Berry, you're not going too…"

"Sorry Twilight, but I want to live," Berry said and lunged forward, swinging her hammer.

Reacting quickly, Twilight leapt backwards and drew her katana, slicing through Berry's foreleg as she did. Half of the leg went flying past her, followed by a spray of blood that hit her in the face. Berry screamed and dropped to her knees, clutching the bloody stump of her leg firmly against her chest.

"Oh Celestia… Berry I'm sorry!" Twilight said rushing towards the pony.

"Stop," Berry said holding up her still intact leg, "Don't be sorry. I attacked, and you defended yourself. Now just finish me."

"But I-"

"Just do it!"

With that, Twilight gathered up all of her courage and brought the blade back. "Sorry about this," she said, and thrust the blade forward through Berry Punch's chest. Pulling it back out, she was hit with another spray of blood. Berry's body fell forward and was soon surrounded by a massive pool of her own blood. Twilight let the bloody sword fall to the ground, no longer able to control her own magic and dropped to her knees.

"Celestia forgive me," she muttered, "Celestia forgive me."

* * *

"Hey hey hey!" Grey Reaper's voice once again called out the remaining players, "We've just had death six! The final pony was Berry Punch! You all know what that means right? Game over! Except, this game ended a lot quicker then I expected and I wasn't able to properly enjoy myself. So, you six that are still alive are going to play the game again! Same rules as before, just with six players. So, without further ado, game on!"

* * *

Thanks for reading, and be sure to leave a nice review!


	13. Round Two

I don't own My Little Pony or any of it's related characters in any way, shape, or form. I do however own the characters of Sweetmint and Grey Reaper.

* * *

Chapter 13 Round Two

"You can't do that!" Twilight yelled at the sky, horrified by what she just heard.

"You seem to be forgetting that I can do whatever I want," Grey Reaper's voice hissed in her ear, "And if I want you six winners to play the game again, then guess what? You're going to play the game again!"

"No… No! I won't play again! I won't!"

Grey simply laughed at her words. "You want to drop out of the game? Like Rainbow Dash tried to?"

Twilight paled as she remembered the sight of her friend gasping for air as she was nearly choked to death. Remaining silent, the purple unicorn shook her head.

"Now you don't want to drop out?" the young alicorn said with mock surprise, "My, you sure are a fickle one aren't you? Now that that's been settled, get out there and play. If you want to continue living that is." With one last burst of laughter, Grey Reapers voice faded away, leaving Twilight alone with a ghostly echo and the body of Berry Punch.

"I have to get out of here," she murmured and ran as fast she could back into the forest.

* * *

Pinkamena's eyes lit up as a wicked, toothy grin spread across her face. Licking her lips, she chuckled softly and said, "What luck I have. A second game! Another opportunity for me to kill! Grey Reaper, you're alright in my book."

Hefting her club, the pink pony set off in search of her prey.

* * *

Applejack stood frozen, barely believing what she just heard. Another game. Three more ponies were going to die. She looked back the way she had just come and was struck by a sudden idea.

"Rainbow Dash aint to far away. If I turn 'round right now, I bet I could catch up with her." Looking at the hatchet she was carrying, her sudden idea expanded. "Then I just drive this into her head and…" she stopped and shook her head, squashing the plan before it could further itself. "No. No way am I killing one of my friends."

Shaking her head once more she turned and continued away from Dash, muttering "Not gonna do it" over and over again as she did.

* * *

"NO!" Sweetmint screamed and beat her hooves against the ground, "No! I was so close! I was so fucking close! I survived the game… I survived! I was going to go home! And now… Now I'm… I'm going to die here… Just like Wintergreen and the others…"

Tears spilled forth from her eyes as she continued to savagely smash her hooves against the earth. She paused her attack for brief moment to wipe away the tears, but stopped and stared at her hoof. Her bright green fur was stained red, blood pouring down her leg. The hoof itself was cracked in several places, small trickles of blood spilling forth and forming together into the great river that drenched her foreleg.

"What am I doing to myself," she said after a moment, "I can't just sit here beating myself up. There's still a chance I can make it out. There's always a chance of survival, no matter what."

Rising to her full height, the pegasus picked her death frisbee up off the ground and prepared to move, but stopped when she heard a nearby voice say, "There's no chance for you."

Turning, Sweetmint saw a pink pony staring at her from a nearby cluster of trees, a psychotic grin spread across her face. "You die here and now," Pinkamena said as she began slowly stalking towards her.

* * *

"Stupid little bitch," Rainbow Dash muttered, making her way forward, "We survive and get rewarded by having to keep kill each other? This is bullshit. Bullshit! You hear that you little bitch? This whole thing is BULLSHIT!"

When no answer came, Rainbow growled and glared at the sky. "What, now you don't want to talk to me?" she said through clenched teeth. "Fine, but you had best hope I don't survive, because if I see you again, I'm gonna put my hoof so far up your ass…"

"I wish you the best of luck with that," a ghostly voice hissed at her and faded away.

Dash stood glaring at the sky for a moment longer before continuing forward, seething with pure rage as she did.

* * *

Derpy looked out from behind the tree she was hiding behind. Seeing nopony, she sighed in relief and moved out. "Good, she's gone."

Derpy had spotted Rainbow Dash and flew down to sneak up on her. Just as she was about to make her move, the blue pegasus started yelling at the sky. Derpy stopped her advance and went to hide instead, frightened by the other pegasus' rage.

"I think I'll just stay away from her for a while," she said as she began to run in the opposite direction of Rainbow Dash.

* * *

Licking her lips, Pinkamena leapt forward, swinging her club. Reacting quickly, Sweetmint rolled to the side, the deadly cudgel passing harmlessly over her head. Rising to her feet, she flung her death frisbee with all of her strength. Raising her club, the pink pony swatted the incoming projectile away.

"No more weapon, no more fighting back," she said and began advancing.

Sweetmint backed away, trying to put enough distance between them for her to be able to safely run, but Pinkamena's steps were longer, allowing her to quickly close the distance between the two ponies. Still, she moved backwards, trying desperately to escape. As she continued back, she bumped into something hard and rough. Glancing behind her, she saw that she was now pressed up against a tree.

"Aw, looks like you hit a dead end," the insane pony said, laughing at her own joke. She suddenly stopped and looked to her side saying, "Shut up. It was funny."

Sweetmint didn't know who or what Pinkamena was talking to, but was none-the-less thankful for the momentary distraction. Turning she began to run away from the pink pony.

"Where do you think you're going?" Pinkamena called out from behind. The earth pony gave chase, and easily caught up to Sweetmint. Swinging her weapon, she struck the pegasus' back legs, knocking her to the ground.

Sweetmint tried to regain her footing, but found she couldn't move her back legs. She instead began dragging her body forward with her forelegs, flapping her wings to lift her body partially off the ground.

Pinkamena laughed as she slowly made her way towards the helpless pony. "Stop trying to run," she said, "You can't get away from me." Pressing her hoof down against Sweetmint's back, she stopped the pegasus' attempt to escape. The green pony tired to squirm out from under the hoof, but it was holding her to firmly down.

"There's no sense in trying to get away. Your fate is sealed," Pinkamena hissed into her ear. Raising the club she held, she brought it down onto the back of Sweetmint's skull, cracking it open. Blood poured out, covering her head in a crimson mask. The club was once again raised and brought down, splitting the skull further, increasing the blood flow. Removing her hoof from Sweetmint's back, Pinkamena gripped the club with both hooves and smashed it into her skull again and again, laughing manically as she did. When she finished, she wiped away the blood that had splashed up onto her face and looked down at her work. What had once been Sweetmint's head was now a gooey mess of blood and brains mixed with skin and bits of bone.

"How lovely," she said with a smile. "Seems I should have been an artist rather then a baker. Oh well, can't change the past." Turning away from the headless corpse, she made her way over to where Sweetmint's weapon had ended up. Picking it up, she looked it over and smiled. "This could come in handy."

* * *

"How blood thirsty!" Grey Reaper exclaimed to everypony, "The first death of the second game goes to Sweetmint, and in record time as well. Seems she wasn't able to outlast her dear sister. Now then, I think the night has lasted long enough. Here comes the sun again!"

* * *

Thanks for reading, and be sure to leave a nice review.


	14. Game Over

I don't My Little Pony in any way, shape, or form. I do however own the characters of Sweetmint and Grey Reaper.

* * *

Chapter 14 Game Over

The sun rose quickly, blinding the five remaining ponies with its sudden brightness. Blinking rapidly, Twilight was able to quickly shake off the blinding effect of the sun. She stopped and took a moment to take in her surroundings. Running headlong through the forest, without paying attention to where she was going, she had found her way back out. She now stood at the edge of a large clearing. A little ways away from her, she could see a large, turquoise lump lying on the ground.

"Oh Celestia," she said, covering her mouth, revolted by the sight. Even from this distance, she could see blood pooling around Trixie's body. Not only that, but flies buzzed around the corpse, attracted to the stench of rotting flesh that permeated the air.

Fighting back the urge to spill the contents of her stomach onto the ground, Twilight ran away from the disgusting sight.

* * *

Derpy flew above the treetops. From this height, she could keep an eye on what was happening below her without being seen by the others. With the sun back, the pegasus felt more confident that she could survive.

"I just want to get back home…" she mumbled. Glancing down, she spotted something orange moving around. "And I can do that if I take her out."

Tilting forward, Derpy dove towards the ground, drawing her dagger as she did. She began to pull up as she neared the pony below her, but misjudged the distance and crashed into her instead, causing the two of them to go tumbling forward.

"What the hay?" Applejack said rising to her feet, "Who was that?" Glancing around, the earth pony spotted Derpy lying on the ground.

"Hey, Derpy. You okay?" she asked moving towards the pegasus, "That was quite a crash just now. Here, let me help ya'." Applejack extended a hoof towards the grey pony. Derpy gripped Applejack's hoof and pulled down, pulling the orange pony back down to the ground and then quickly moved onto her back, pressing her dagger against Applejack's neck.

"Sorry Applejack," she said, a slight edge to her voice, "But I need to survive."

* * *

"Oh, this so much fun," Pinkamena said to herself as she walked away from Sweetmint's headless corpse, "Kill a pony, get a new weapon! I love it!"

With her club and Sweetmint's death frisbee, the psychotic earth pony was now even more dangerous then before. The range that the flying metal disc of death offered her would allow her to attack from a distance and with the club, she could move in and finish them off. Just thinking about it made her feel giddy.

"I hope I run into somepony soon."

* * *

"Derpy, wait!" Applejack called, stopping the pegasus' hoof before it could move, "Please, just listen to me!"

"What is it?"

"You said you need to survive. I need to survive too! I made a promise to Rarity and I intend to keep it."

"A promise? To Rarity?"

"Yeah. I promised I'd survive and look after her little sister for her. So please, just let me go!"

Derpy was silent for a moment, contemplating what she just heard. It could be a lie, a ruse to get her guard down so that Applejack could kill her. But then again, Applejack was the worst liar in Ponyville. If she was lying, Derpy was certain she would be able to see through it, and as far she could tell, Applejack was being truthful.

Carefully moving the dagger away, Derpy got off of Applejack's back and moved away. The earth pony rose to her feet and rubbed at her neck. "Thanks Derpy," she said, turning, "Now then, I got an idea I think ya'll might like."

"What kind of idea?" Derpy said, interested in the earth pony's statement.

"The two of us want to make it out of here alive, right?"

Derpy nodded.

"Hows about the two of us team up and watch each others backs for the rest of this game?"

"That sounds like a good idea. Lets do it."

* * *

Growling in fury, Rainbow Dash stomped around. She had no weapon, and knew she wouldn't be able to find one. She desperately hoped that she would come across one of the others and have them protect her, but with how close the game was to ending, she figured they'd probably just kill her on sight.

"This whole thing just sucks…" she muttered through clenched teeth.

She looked around, and seeing nopony, felt a small sense of relief. She got to continue living, if only for short while longer. As she prepared to continue moving, a sudden sharp, stabbing pain erupted in her left side and fell to the ground with a scream. Raising her head, she could see a metal disc buried in her ribs, blood pouring down her side.

"Dammit…" she mumbled, a small trickle of blood running down her chin. Closing her eyes, she laid her head back on the ground.

All of a sudden, Rainbow Dash could hear hoof steps, then felt the disc being pulled out of her side. Screaming again, she opened her eyes and saw Pinkie Pie standing above her, eyes cold and uncaring.

"Pinkie, what are you doing?" she weakly said.

The pink pony silently reached down with her free hoof and grabbed the pegasus' mane, forcibly pulling her head back, exposing her neck. Bringing the disc down, she pulled it across Dash's throat, a geyser of blood spraying across her face, followed by a river of blood pouring down the pegasus' front.

* * *

"And another one down!" the voice of Grey Reaper boomed, "Rainbow Dash is the unfortunate pony to die this time. One more death and the game ends! Go and make me happy my little ponies!"

* * *

With a demented smile, Pinkamena wiped the blood off of her face and licked some of blood off of the death frisbee.

"Delicious," she murmured, walking away from Dash's body, "I wonder who the next pony I get to kill is?"

As if to answer her, a purple unicorn appeared from behind a clump of bushes. Seeing the pink pony, Twilight made her way towards her, calling out, "Pinkie Pie!"

Pinkamena stared at her, silent, contemplating the best way to end Twilight's life.

"Pinkie Pie, I am so glad to see you!" Twilight smiled, her voice filled with glee, "I was so worried about you after we got separated. Are you okay? Is your leg bothering you at all?"

"No," the earth pony responded, "And I'm not Pinkie Pie."

Twilight was startled by her friend's words. "What do mean, you're not Pinkie?" she said after a moment, "Of course you're Pinkie! I mean, sure, your mane looks a little different, but you're still you."

"Do you remember Pinkie's birthday last year? How she thought you and the others didn't want to be her friends anymore? How she got all depressed and angry at you all?"

"Yeah, I remember. Wait, are you saying that you're feeling that way right now? Pinkie, please don't be angry with us. None of us had any part in this."

"I'm not Pinkie!" Pinkamena shouted, "The angry Pinkie you met then was me! And now I'm here again to make sure we survive."

"What are you talking about?" Twilight yelled, confused by the pink pony's words, "You aren't making any sense!"

"And here I thought you were smart. Fine. I'll spell it out, nice and simple," Pinkamena responded condescendingly, "There are two Pinkie's. The silly, clownish Pinkie Pie you know, and me. The real Pinkie Pie."

"Real Pinkie Pie? What's that supposed to mean?"

"We used to live on a rock farm. There was no smiling, no fun, and no happiness. Just gloominess and rocks. Despite that, I lived a nice life. I had a loving family and everything I would ever need. That all changed the day she got her cutie mark.

"When the Rainboom happened, everything went downhill for me. Pinkie Pie appeared and I was pushed away, far away, into the deepest, darkest corners of her mind. I no longer had control, was no longer able to do anything, but sit back and watch her parade around in my body. It was hell.

"I used to be nice, maybe a little dreary, but nice. Having to watch somepony else control my body, like a puppet on a string, is an absolutely horrendous form of psychological torture, the likes of which there is no escape form. Not only that, it changes you. Takes what you are, and destroys it, leaving you with nothing of your former self, forces you to change and adapt, just so you can continue existing."

Twilight silently listened to Pinkamena speech. She had never experienced anything like what Pinkamena described, and had no response. She simply kept quiet and listened.

"I became cold, cynical, maybe even a little psychotic. I began to hate Pinkie for doing this to me. Then, after being briefly let out on our birthday, I began to hate you, her friends. If you five hadn't befriended us, Pinkie would have eventually gone away, and I would have had full control again. But you five just had to come into our life and force her to stay around. Killing Fluttershy was to perfect opportunity for me to wrest control away, and take the rest of you stupid little bitches out."

"Wait, are you saying Pinkie killed Fluttershy?" Twilight asked, shocked by the words she was hearing. "Pinkie would never do that!" she yelled when Pinkamena nodded her head.

"Maybe not on purpose, but she most certainly would, and did, by accident."

"I don't believe you. I don't believe you!" Twilight yelled, enraged by Pinkamena's statement.

"Believe it. Pinkie killed Fluttershy, and then she let me kill Sweetmint and Rainbow Dash, and now that you're here, she's gonna let me kill you too!"

With that, Pinkamena threw the death frisbee at Twilights head. Acting quickly, Twilight moved to the side, and the disc flew past her, grazing her cheek, a small trickle of blood flowing down the side of her face. With a growl, Pinkamena lunged, swinging her club. Twilight drew the katana from her back with incredible speed and blocked the attack. The pink pony swung the club again and again, only to be blocked by Twilight each time.

"Just let me kill you!" she screamed, angrily swinging her weapon around.

Twilight moved backwards, blocking attacks that came near her, trying desperately to gain some sort of advantage. As Pinkamena prepared to strike again, Twilight saw it. A small opening, just enough for her to be able attack. Without thinking about what she was doing, Twilight went for it, driving her blade forward, stabbing it through the earth pony's stomach.

Gasping, Pinkamena dropped the club. "Twilight," she whispered weakly, her voice filled with sadness, regret and, strangely enough, happiness, "I'm sorry. Thank you for stopping me."

"Pinkie Pie, I… I…" Twilight stammered, not knowing what to say.

"It's okay. You don't have to say anything. I'm just happy you could survive." A smile appeared on her face as the words left her lips and her eyes closed, slumping forward.

Twilight caught her, hugging her lifeless body. "I'm sorry Pinkie," she sobbed, a river of tears pouring down her face and into Pinkies mane, "I'm so sorry."

* * *

"And game!" Grey Reaper called out for the last time, "With the death of Pinkie Pie, the game is now over! Good job survivors! As the games winners, you will be returned home, along with the bodies of your fellow competitors, to do with what you will. I hope you all had as much fun playing this game as I had hosting it! With that said, the Fifth Annual Grey Reaper Survival Challenge has ended!"

* * *

Only one chapter left! I can't believe it's almost done. Anyway, thanks for reading and be sure to leave a nice review!


	15. Homecoming

I don't own My Little Pony in any way, shape, or form. I do however own the characters of Sweetmint and Grey Reaper.

* * *

Chapter 15 Homecoming

The entire town of Ponyville was in an uproar. Several of the town's residents had vanished a few days ago, and no matter how long or how hard anypony searched there wasn't any sign of the missing ponies anywhere. It was if they all vanished into thin air.

When word of the disappearances reached Canterlot, Princess Celestia sent a squad of royal guards to assist in the search. The additional pony power, while appreciated, did little to help turn up clues to the location of the missing ponies.

Eventually, both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna came to Ponyville to aid in the search.

The two sisters, along with Shining Armor, the captain of the royal guard, were gathered together in city hall along with the mayor, preparing to discuss their next course of action when the door to the mayor's office opened. A young soldier stepped into the room. "Permission to speak, sir?" he said with a salute.

"Granted," Shining Armor replied with a wave of his hoof.

"We finished scouring the Everfree forest and have found no clues."

"I see. Thank you lieutenant. You may go now."

With another salute, the soldier left.

"Dammit!" Shining Armor yelled, stomping his hooves, "There has to be a sign of them somewhere! There has to!"

"Calm yourself captain," Luna said, placing a hoof on his shoulder, "This anger will not help bring them back. If we are to find them, we must not let our emotions get out of control."

"Yes, you're right Princess," the unicorn responded, "I'm sorry for my outburst. I just want to find my sister before something happens to her."

"I'm greatly concerned Twilight as well," Celestia said, "As well as the others. The safety of her friends, the other element bearers, is also of great concern to me. With that said, I believe we need to increase our efforts."

"But how?" Mayor Mare asked, "We all ready have every available pony out searching. What else can we do?"

Before the princess could answer, the door burst open and an excited soldier came rushing in.

"We found them!" he exclaimed, "They're coming into town right now!"

"Where did you find them?" Shining Armor asked as they all rushed out of the room.

"Just a few miles out of town. They're heading into town as we speak."

"Are they all okay?" the mayor asked.

"I think you'd better see for yourself," the soldier responded.

Exiting the building, the group could see a large number of ponies gathered within the town square. They were all looking towards one of the bridges leading to the rest of town, excitedly whispering amongst themselves, and the reason for their excitement soon came into view. Three ponies, a purple unicorn, an orange earth pony, and a grey pegasus, came up over the bridge, pulling a large cart behind them.

"Where are the others?" the mayor asked the soldier they had followed.

"In the cart," he responded, eyes downward.

The three ponies moved forward through the crowd, ignoring the other ponies, and came to a stop in front of city hall.

"Twily!" Shining Armor called out happily, rushing forward to hug his sister, "I was so worried about you! Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," Twilight responded, her voice quiet and nearly devoid of any emotion.

The mayor gasped suddenly, backing away from the cart. "The others," she said, sounding horrified, "They're all dead."

"Dead? What happened?" Celestia asked.

The three ponies looked at each other for moment. Twilight turned back to princess and, with a voice filled with sadness, said, "We can't tell you."

"What do you mean you can't tell us?" Shining Armor demanded.

"She means, we can't tell you," Applejack responded, looking down.

"Well, why not?" Luna asked.

"It's to terrible," Derpy said, "We just want to forget it."

* * *

A few days after the survivors returned home, a mass funeral was held for the nine ponies that had died. The three sat in the front during the ceremony, staying silent and looking at the ground.

When it ended, Twilight, Applejack and Derpy immediately returned to their homes without saying anything. As time went on, the other ponies began to notice that the three had changed.

Keeping her promise, Applejack adopted Sweetie Belle into the Apple family. Things were awkward for her at first, but she soon adapted to her new life and even came to love working in the orchard. Applejack herself seemed to lose her enthusiasm for work and spent most of her time in her room with the door locked. When she did come out, her work suffered greatly.

Derpy tried to put on a happy face when she was out and about, but everypony could see that it was just an act. At nights, she would stay at home, her mind plagued by memories of the game. To combat the horrible memories, Derpy began drinking until she blacked out, finding solace in the unconsciousness it brought.

Twilight suffered the worst of them. Upon retuning home from the funerals, she locked all the doors and boarded up all the windows of the library. She then locked herself in her room and refused to come out or even speak when Spike tried to talk to her. She also stopped sending letters to Princess Celestia, believing that Grey Reaper was somewhere in town, watching her, listening to her conversations, and could even intercept her letters.

The three stayed away from each other, not wanting to spark up any particularly painful memories except for one day each year, on the anniversary of returning home when they would meet at Twilight's library to discuss and relive happy memories of their friends and life before the game.

That one day a year was an amazing thing to see. Anypony that happened to be near library and saw the three would swear that nothing was wrong with them, that they were acting just as they had before their mysterious disappearance. But as soon as the day was done and they went their separate ways, they would revert back to their now normal states of depression, alcoholism, and paranoia.

* * *

Several years after their return, Twilight briefly ended her isolation to the outside world, writing and sending a letter to Celestia. The princess was greatly surprised by the letter, having not received one in a very long time.

She immediately opened and read the letter as soon as it appeared. Upon finishing it, she summoned Luna. When her sister arrived in her chamber, she read in a clear and strong voice, "Dear Princess Celestia, I know it's been a long time since I sent you a letter and I'm very sorry for that. I was afraid that she might be able to intercept it and I didn't want her to know anything I had to tell you. Recently however, Applejack, Derpy and I decided we should tell you what happened. All those years ago, we were taken. Taken by a young, twisted, evil filly. We had to play a game. And that's all it was. A game. It was just a game. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."

Luna was silent, absorbing the words she had heard. "What does she mean, they played a game? We do not know of any games that result in the deaths of nine ponies. And who is this filly that took them?" she said.

"I don't know sister," Celestia responded, putting the letter down, "And I fear that we may never know."

* * *

And done! I want to give a big thanks to everyone who left a review, added this story to their favorites, or just read it. I also want to give a big thanks to my sister for helping me out by proofreading each chapter and just being a pretty awesome sister. Anyway, as always, thanks for reading, and be sure to leave a nice review.


End file.
